Credit: Texas Department Of Corrections and ITV
Death Row Inmate’s Final Words To Bride Before Her Tragic Sacrifice
A death row inmate shared heartbreaking final words to his bride before her tragic sacrifice.
A Texas death row inmate who maintained that the state had ‘got it wrong’ was executed after years of legal battles, disputed evidence, and a late claim from his cousin that he—not the condemned man—was the real killer.
James Broadnax, 37, was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, per CNN.
He had been convicted in the 2008 shooting deaths of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler outside a music studio in Garland, a suburb of Dallas.
Prosecutors said Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, robbed and fatally shot the two men in the parking lot of Butler’s recording studio.
Cummings was sentenced to life in prison without parole, while Broadnax was given the death penalty, Sky News reports.
For the families of Swan and Butler, the execution marked the end of a case that had stretched across nearly 18 years.
For Broadnax’s supporters, however, it came despite unresolved questions they said should have stopped the punishment from going forward.
Broadnax’s case drew attention not only because of his claims of innocence, but because of allegations involving racial bias in jury selection, the use of rap lyrics at trial, and a last-minute confession from his co-defendant.
The crime, conviction, and disputed confession
At trial, prosecutors relied in part on statements Broadnax made during jailhouse interviews. They said he admitted responsibility, telling reporters: “I pulled the trigger,” and claiming he had no remorse.
Broadnax later said that confession was false. In a video recorded before his execution, he claimed he had been in a dark place at the time and did not care what happened to him.
His attorneys also argued he had been under the influence of drugs during the interviews.
Although Broadnax admitted involvement in the robbery, he denied being the shooter.
His cousin, Cummings, later appeared to support that claim. In a recent prison video made as part of the effort to stop Broadnax’s execution, Cummings said: “I’m really gonna tell it like it’s supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer. I shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swan.”
Broadnax’s attorneys said Cummings’ confession was backed by forensic evidence, arguing in court filings that Cummings’ DNA—not Broadnax’s—was found on the murder weapon and in the pocket of one of the victims.
But the Texas Attorney General’s Office called the confession ‘questionable new evidence,’ and the courts did not halt the execution.
The US Supreme Court denied Broadnax’s final request for a stay earlier Thursday. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had also rejected his request for either a 180-day reprieve or a commutation of his death sentence.
Appeals, rap lyrics, and claims of racial bias
Broadnax’s legal team raised several constitutional arguments in the years before his execution. One focused on jury selection.
His attorneys alleged prosecutors improperly removed Black prospective jurors from the case. In court documents, they claimed prosecutors used a spreadsheet during jury selection that bolded only the names of Black jurors. One Black juror was later reinstated.
The state denied that race played a role, arguing the jurors were removed because of their responses during questioning, including answers about the death penalty.
Broadnax’s attorneys also challenged the use of his rap lyrics at trial. They argued prosecutors used the lyrics to portray him as violent and dangerous in order to help secure a death sentence.
That issue drew support from several major rappers, including Travis Scott, T.I., and Killer Mike, who filed briefs at the Supreme Court backing Broadnax’s appeal.
Still, the high court declined to intervene.
Broadnax also expressed remorse for his role in the robbery, even while disputing that he was the killer. In one statement before his death, he said: “I wish I could show them my soul, so they could see just how sorry I am. I am very much remorseful for everything that happened.”
For the victims’ families, however, the late claims did not change what they believed justice required.
Theresa Butler, Matthew Butler’s mother, had urged the execution to proceed. Responding to Cummings’ confession, she wrote on social media: “This so-called confession from Cummings is just a stall tactic by Broadnax’s desperate defense team. It’s all a lie.”
A British bride’s unlikely prison marriage
Away from the courtroom, Broadnax’s case had taken another dramatic turn through his relationship with British law graduate Tiana Krasniqi.
Krasniqi, 31, from Lewisham in southeast London, first contacted Broadnax while studying for a master’s degree in international human rights law. She had chosen his case as part of her academic work, reportedly focusing on racial disparities in the justice system.
What began as research eventually became a relationship. Krasniqi traveled to Texas to meet Broadnax face-to-face, though their contact was restricted by prison rules. The pair could speak only through a glass screen.
Krasniqi later said the relationship was far from conventional, but she believed in Broadnax and his innocence. She also acknowledged that people in her life did not support her decision.
“Nobody agrees with it. And I don’t expect them to,” she told The Times. “Like I said, it’s not conventional. ‘Hey, I met the love of my life in Texas. He’s on death row.’”
Krasniqi, who has a nine-year-old child from a previous relationship, moved to Houston to be closer to Broadnax before his execution. That decision meant spending months away from her daughter, who remained in the UK with her father.
She said the separation was painful but insisted she and Broadnax had tried to shield her child from the most difficult parts of their relationship.
“I miss my daughter. I haven’t seen her in a month. I’m probably not going to see her for another two,” she said. “It is hard. But at the same time we are also protecting her.”
The couple married on April 14 in a brief prison ceremony. Reports described it as lasting between 15 and 20 minutes. Because of death row restrictions, they remained separated by glass even as they exchanged vows.
Krasniqi said her Christian faith played a role in her decision to marry him.
“I had come to a point where I decided to take my faith in Christianity quite seriously,” she said. “For me, it was always going to be a situation where if I was going to be in a relationship in general it would have been after marriage.”
Because Broadnax could not give her a ring himself, he reportedly asked her to choose one on his behalf.
Final moments behind the glass
As Broadnax’s execution approached, Krasniqi remained publicly adamant that her husband was innocent. The night before he was put to death, she told followers on TikTok that prison authorities had “locked his phone,” adding that “this might be the last night I speak to him.”
In a desperate plea before the execution, she reportedly said: “Take me. Don’t take him.”
When the execution began, Krasniqi was among the witnesses. Relatives of the victims were also present.
Broadnax was strapped to a gurney as the lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered. According to witnesses, Krasniqi became overwhelmed, screaming “I love you” through the viewing window. She leaned toward the glass with her arms spread and had to be helped out of the prison afterward.
Broadnax used his final statement to ask forgiveness from the victims’ families while again insisting he was innocent, per the Mirror.
“I prayed to God for your forgiveness,” he said. “Despite what you think about me, I hope to God that prayer was answered. But no matter what you think about me, Texas got it wrong. I’m innocent, the facts of my case should speak for itself. Period.”
Then he turned his words toward supporters and his new wife.
“Let this moment be what finally sparks the revolution that will be televised, none of it was worth it,” he said. “Queen Emmit, I love you, my promise still stands, it always will. Keep fighting, stay strong, keep God first, never stop believing. I love you forever and a day. I love you Queen. Peace, love, and light, that’s what I stand for. God bless everybody.”
As the drug began taking effect, Broadnax urged those who believed in him to continue.
“Don’t give up,” he said. “Don’t give up, don’t…”
He gasped before he could finish the sentence. His movement stopped shortly afterward, and he was pronounced dead 21 minutes later.
After the execution, Krasniqi shared her grief publicly, writing: “They killed my husband.”
She also described him as a “deeply intelligent person” who had changed during his years on death row.
“James was never a psychopath or predator,” she said.
In a final statement, she said he would be missed by his family and friends, adding that Broadnax had often spoken about his remorse for his role in the crimes.
“James spoke often of his feelings for the families of Mr Swan and Mr Butler, and about his remorse for his role in these crimes, and our thoughts at this time are with their families as well, as James’s were.”
Broadnax became the third person executed in Texas this year and the 10th in the United States. His death came about an hour after Florida executed James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, for the killing of his 13-year-old step-niece.
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