An MSU student was among six people killed in an auto accident on Miss. Highway 26 near Wiggins over the break.
Josh Bozeman of Biloxi was an undeclared sophomore transfer student expected to attend classes at MSU this semester. He had signed up for classes last semester but did not attend, said Jackie Tehran of MSU’s Dean of Students office.
Bozeman also had an MSU account on the popular Web site Facebook.com.
Six passengers-Brittany Jordan, 18, and her sister Carley Jordan, 20, both of Ocean Springs; Candice Newman, William Jarrod Thompson and Richard O’Barr, all 20; and Bozeman, 21, all of Biloxi-were killed when the GMC 3:30 a.m. Jan. 12.
Authorities said the pickup was stationary and crossways on the highway when the larger vehicle hit it.
All six were former Mercy Cross High School students.
Sophomore human sciences major Ashley Gunkel knew all of them from high school and thought of Bozeman as one of her best friends.
“Josh was such a good friend,” she said. “I’ve never really had someone close to me die, so it’s been really hard.”
Kelli Fayard, a sophomore biological sciences major, also knew all six from high school.
“All of them were very popular and very promising,” she said. “It makes you wonder what could have been. Everyone loved them.”
Fayard will always remember Bozeman’s sense of humor.
“He was always a jokester,” she said.
Both Fayard and Gunkel said the tragedy has brought them closer to their friends.
“It makes you really cling to the friends you have,” Gunkel said.
“Hopefully they showed us to be more responsible,” Fayard said. “Now when we go out, we always tell our friends to be careful and we make sure to tell them that we love them.”
The driver, Chris Rutland, 20, and passenger, Allen Martell, 20, were injured and transported to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg. Rutland was discharged Thursday, and Martell is in stable condition at the hospital.
All eight people in the pickup had attended Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Perkinston campus, but only O’Barr and Thompson were enrolled this semester, the Associated Press reported. Others were attending schools including the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Funeral services for Bozeman were held Jan. 14.