A Gulfport man will spend over a decade and a half in prison for killing a woman during Cruisin’ the Coast 2023.
Joshua Ray Bullock was sentenced Monday to 20 years, 17 of which will be served in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Bullock previously pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter dating back to an incident in which he killed someone while driving erratically at the annual car show.
Prosecutors stated that the investigation into the homicide began on Oct. 2, 2023, when the Biloxi Police Department responded to the Starbucks coffee shop’s parking lot in front of Edgewater Mall after receiving a report of a motor vehicle accident involving a fatality. Upon their arrival, officers determined that Bullock struck the vehicle of Donna Lee Wilson as she and her daughter were packing up after an afternoon of watching the show’s cars along Highway 90. Wilson, 67, was pinned between her vehicle and the Starbucks sign and died on the scene.
Video surveillance later showed that Bullock entered the south side of the mall parking lot and was speeding and doing donuts. He then entered the Starbucks lot at a high rate of speed and lost control of his vehicle, narrowly missing other vehicles and Wilson’s daughter before crashing into Wilson’s parked car.
The investigation determined Bullock was driving 48 miles per hour through the parking lot at the time of the incident. He was also determined to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
During the investigation, Bullock admitted that he had been doing donuts in the parking lot and had accidentally killed someone. He later claimed that he was suffering from hallucinations at the time of the crash.
Assistant District Attorney Mara Joffe, who led the prosecution, indicated that video surveillance refuted Bullock’s claims that he was in the midst of a mental health crisis at the time of the crash as he was seen driving normally with the flow of traffic down Highway 90 approximately 13 minutes before entering the mall parking lot.
Members of Wilson’s family, including her daughter, were present for Bullock’s guilty plea and subsequent sentencing hearings. Circuit Court Judge Christopher Smith called it a “tragedy” and said: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so awful.”
After serving his 17 years in prison, Bullock will be under three years of post-release supervision.