Gazebo Gazette
Second Circuit Court District Attorney Joel Smith announced today that Joshua Anthony Peterman, age 31, of Gulfport, was sentenced to Life without parole by Judge Roger Clark. Peterman was found guilty of Murder on June 29, 2018, and sentencing was deferred until today to allow Judge Clark to consider Peterman’s habitual offender status. At sentencing, it was determined that Peterman is a life habitual because of his prior violent criminal history. As a Life Habitual, Peterman will have to serve the remainder of his life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the Murder of Tena Broadus. This sentence will be served without the possibility of early release or parole.
The death of Tena Broadus came to the attention of the Gulfport Police Department in September of 2015 after receiving a missing person report from Broadus’s family. Authorities began an investigation into Tena Broadus’s whereabouts which led to the discovery of her remains in October of the same year. Broadus’s remains were found in a wooded area near O’Neal Road and appeared to have been burned.
At trial, multiple witnesses testified that on the day of the murder, Tena was at Joshua Peterman’s residence. Witnesses testified Peterman and Broadus got into a disagreement and a struggle ensued. “During the struggle, Broadus was taken out back and placed in a building behind the residence where she was restrained. The victim was continuously assaulted by the defendants,” said Assistant District Attorney Mitch Owen who prosecuted the case along with Crosby Parker. Multiple witnesses observed Broadus to be deceased and she was placed in a box to transport her body for disposal. The defendant, Natasha Sellers, Aaron Bobinger and Kari Parker transported the body to O’Neal Road where her body was dumped in the Biloxi river.
On Monday July 9, 2018, Co Defendant Kari Parker who previously pled guilty to Second Degree Murder was sentenced to 30 years with 17 years suspended leaving 13 to Serve with the remainder on post release supervision for her role in the 2015 Murder. Natasha Sellers who previously pled guilty to Accessory After the Fact to Murder was sentenced to 20 years with 15 years suspended leaving 5 years to serve and the remainder on post release supervision. Co-Defendants Devin Gregory and Aaron Bobinger will be sentenced on August 9, 2018.
