Tiana Krasniqi, 31, married death row inmate James Broadnax, 37, in a Texas prison last month – and has now opened up about the trauma of witnessing his lethal injection execution
The British wife of a death row rapper says she is experiencing “flashbacks” after witnessing his chilling execution. Law school graduate Tiana Krasniqi, 31, watched James Broadnax, 37, being killed by lethal injection at 6.47pm earlier this month in a Texas prison.
The couple wed last month in a brief 20-minute ceremony at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit. Tiana initially reached out to the prisoner for a legal study and had fought to save his life after he was found guilty of the 2008 killings of two Christian music producers.
But now she has disclosed she is tormented by the image of his final moments and shared excerpts from the last letter he posted to her before his death. Tiana, from Lewisham, posted on TikTok: “I miss him so much, I keep having flashbacks to the execution, I get panic attacks. One minute I feel okay and the next the world is crushing down.
“When it’s silent, my heart beats so fast and I get scared. I keep thinking what else could I have done.
“The reality that he is not coming back anymore randomly hits me hard. They ended up husbands [sic] life right before my eyes.”
“He just kept crying”
In the two days before the execution, Tiana disclosed she had unlimited visiting rights to see Broadnax. She told her TikTok followers: “Just before I left him he told me he was scared.
“He just kept crying and he said ‘I’m not ready to die, I didn’t do this’. He kept praying and he kept telling me he’s scared.”
She said that right up until 4pm on the day of Broadnax’s death she was still hoping Texas Governor Gregg Abbott would call off the execution. But it never happened.
She told how she was led through a maze of corridors in the state penitentiary in Huntsville before she finally saw Broadnax, reports the Mirror. She said: “It’s an empty room and you have a massive window with red bars.
“I saw him strapped on the gurney and obviously his arms were out [wide]. On his right arm I saw the IV… I screamed, I dropped, I screamed.”
She added: “I come to realise that he can hear me. SO me and him are talking back and forth.”
“I was screaming”
Broadnax delivered a statement before a lethal injection was given, causing his head to “jerk back” and him to groan before his eyes shut. Tiana said: “I screamed so loud…
“I was screaming ‘Open your eyes, open your eyes, I love you, I’m sorry, I was supposed to stop this’.” Tiana said she was eventually able to view Broadnax’s body at a funeral home but was told she couldn’t touch his arm.
Rejecting claims that the execution was “humane”, Tiana said: “My husband died suffering.”
Tiana also shared a picture of her “last letter” which was dated “April 30, Thursday morning”, the day of his execution. In the letter he wrote: “I’ve dreaded the moment of this letter between us.
“Because if you’re sitting and reading this it means that I’ve been taken away from you and baby girl (I think) before our time. Before the time of our family unit being realized.”
In another passage he penned: “So I pray that my heart and love will still translate to you baby, and you know that you were and will forever be my world one one true only love. I am with you always and only ever a thought or memory away.
“I was the killer”
“As special as you are to me, loving you and being in love with you throughout our journey served to be even more precious to me. Our forever and a day is exactly that.
“To my wife, I love you…” Broadnax stood accused of shooting dead and robbing Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in a recording studio car park in Dallas, Garland, nearly 18 years ago.
Yet Broadnax’s cousin Demarius Cummings – who received life imprisonment without parole for the identical crime – subsequently claimed he fired the fatal shots. Cummings declared in a prison video recorded in a final attempt to halt the execution: “I’m really gonna tell it like it’s supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer.
“I pulled the trigger”
“I shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swann.” Legal representatives for Broadnax argued the confession was supported by forensic evidence.
They maintained Cumming’s DNA – not Broadnax’s – was discovered on the murder weapon and in the pocket of one of the victims. Despite a final appeal, authorities proceeded with the execution at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Prosecutors have consistently maintained Broadnax was the shooter, highlighting his own confession. Speaking to journalists outside the prison, he had previously stated: “I pulled the trigger” – and claimed he felt no remorse.
“I am very much remorseful”
But in a subsequent video, Broadnax maintained that the confession was bogus and made when he no longer valued his existence. His legal representatives said he was under the influence of narcotics during the interviews.
In a separate statement, he voiced regret for his part in the robbery. 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.” The case attracted support from rappers Travis Scott, T.I. and Killer Mike filing briefs to the Supreme Court in support of his appeal – which was ultimately rejected.
“It’s all a lie”
Texas officials dismissed the cousin’s confession as “questionable new evidence”. And the victim’s family fiercely opposed any delay.
Theresa Butler, mother of Matthew Butler said: “This so-called confession from Cummings is just a stall tactic by Broadnax’s desperate defense team. It’s all a lie.”
Tiana moved to Houston, Texas, where she enlisted a team of lawyers to submit appeals against his execution. It meant months apart from her daughter, who remains in the UK with the girl’s father.
She said previously: “Nobody agrees with [the relationship]. And I don’t expect them to.
“Like I said, it’s not conventional. I miss my daughter.
“I haven’t seen her in a month. I’m probably not going to see her for another two.
“It is hard.” But despite her frantic attempts, Broadnax was executed with a lethal injection of pentobarbital just hours after the US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal.
In a statement released following Broadnax’s death, Tiana and his legal team said: “James was a caring, thoughtful, spiritual, and deeply intelligent person who positively impacted all who came to know him. He will be missed by all of us and by his family and many friends.
“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’ were.”
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