Teen accomplice sentenced to 8 years in Broadnax death

A teen accomplice was sentenced to eight years Tuesday in connection with Wallace Broadnax’s June 2021 shooting death.

Tyjuan Jefferson, now 17, would serve six years in the Indiana Department of Corrections and two in the Lake County Community Corrections.

He signed a plea deal for attempted armed robbery, a level 3 felony, and faced 3-16 years.

Broadnax, 70, a respected former Gary firefighter and 1993 Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer, was grabbing a newspaper on June 26, 2021 at the Go Lo gas station, 2295 Grant St, when he was approached by the two teens as he left.

He was shot around 7 a.m., police said.

Valerie Broadnax, his widow, said in court previously that her husband lived a life with great faith and was able to rise above an upbringing in a housing project. He helped everyone he met, whether giving food to someone hungry at a gas station, helping someone out-of-work find a job, or giving people rides.

“We miss his loving spirit, his kindness and his jokes (that kept their spirits high),” she said. “He was a good Christian man, gone too soon.”

She attended Tuesday’s hearing.

Deputy Prosecutor Veronica Gonzalez showed the video on Tuesday where he parked at a pump, then went inside.

As he walked back, co-defendant Antonio Terrell and Jefferson approached and appeared to corral him as he is nearly off camera. As Broadnax turned around to run, Terrell, who is Jefferson’s cousin, shot him. Both teens tan off.

They were “equally responsible,” Gonzalez argued. Two weeks before, they tried to steal a car from the same gas station.

Jefferson had grabbed Broadnax’s arm and was trying to get money off him, she said.

They were arrested together the next day two blocks away at Terrell’s house. Police recovered the gun there.

Their actions were “highly suggestive” of an intent to kill, Gonzalez said. She asked for 16 years.

Defense lawyer Matt Latulip said Jefferson was a kid, only 15 at the time, acknowledging it wouldn’t wipe away what happened.

“We can’t simply say he’s a youth and use that as an excuse for everything,” he said.

Despite what Jefferson said in court paperwork, he didn’t have a stable upbringing, with incarcerated parents.

His client was there to steal a car he needed to go to Chicago that day. He was unarmed and not thinking something more serious would happen, LaTulip said.

By 15, he should have known, but “didn’t have that reality,” he said.

Maybe prison would spare him from a “dark path,” an entire a life of crime. The lawyer said he hoped Jefferson would take advantage and finish high school and get more education.

He asked for 12 years to be split at the judge’s discretion between prison, community corrections and probation.

Gonzalez retorted that Jefferson noted that he wanted to steal a car to help his mom.

“That is bizarre to me,” she said.

Jefferson said in court he was “living a nightmare” and had time to think about what happened.

He made a “horrible decision” and offered “sincere apologies” to Broadnax’s family.

“I understand the consequences of my actions,” Jefferson said. “If I could take it back, I would.”

He wanted to be a better man and live a life led by God.

“I hope this gives the family the closure they need,” he said.

“It was well said,” Judge Samuel Cappas noted.

Terrell levied the “bulk of the violence.” It was a “needless, needless situation,” the judge said. Jefferson did appear to show remorse.

“Hopefully, I don’t see you back here again,” Cappas told him.

Known as “Wallygator,” Broadnax was a member of First Baptist Church and was a member of Roosevelt High School’s 1968 Indiana State Champion Basketball Team, according to his obituary. He retired from the Gary Fire Department with more than 25 years of service and worked for Guy & Allen Funeral Directors for 36 years, until his death.