Simon City Royal sentenced in torture, killing of Tena Broadus in Gulfport

Killer and methamphetamine dealer Joshua Peterman, 31, will spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility for parole.

Judge Roger Clark sentenced Peterman on Thursday morning as a habitual offender.

A jury convicted the Simon City Royal of first-degree murder in the death of Tena Marie Broadus, 29, of Gulfport. Witnesses said Peterman wanted Broadus dead because he had decided she was a “snitch.”

Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Owen said at the beginning of Peterman’s trial that witnesses in the case would include “the dregs of society.”

Four witnesses who testified were using methamphetamine supplied by Peterman before, during and/or after Broadus died on Sept. 18, 2015, in the garage behind his home on O’Neal Road. The others pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the case.

A fifth witness and lifelong friend of Peterman’s, Justin Winters, said Peterman claimed he strangled Broadus with a rope in the garage. Peterman dragged her there after she arrived at his house that day, witnesses said.

She was bound to a chair, beaten and held there for hours, according to testimony. Eventually, she asked Peterman to go ahead and kill her, testimony indicated, but he said it wasn’t time yet.

After he finally strangled her, Peterman and several others drove her body to a wooded area, where he dumped it head first into a 55-gallon drum and set it on fire.

The next morning, he threw the remains in the Biloxi River. A neighbor involved in the coverup of her death, Devin Gregory, began cooperating with the investigation and led Gulfport police officers to Broadus’ remains.

This story was originally published July 12, 2018 at 9:25 AM.