Single mum Tiana Krasniqi, 31, married convicted murderer James Broadnax, 37, just two weeks before he was executed in a Texas jail
A Brit single mum who married a death row killer, screaming “I love you” on repeat as he was executed, has insisted he was innocent.
Tiana Krasniqi, 31, tied the knot with convicted murderer James Broadnax, 37, after she started writing to him behind bars as a penpal. They married just two weeks before he was put to death by lethal injection in a Texas jail, and she continues to claim he was innocent.
Broadnax was sentenced to death after he was found guilty of gunning down two music producers – Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28 – outside a Dallas studio in 2008.
He committed the crime with his cousin, Demarius Cummings at the age of 19, and were both said to be attempting to rob the pair while high on weed and PCP.
Cummings was given life in prison without parole for his part but Broadnax was sentenced to death.
Police say Broadnax confessed to the slayings during interview, but it is reported that he later retracted his statement, with his legal team insisting he was high on drugs at the time of admitting it.
Lawyers claim it was only Cummings’ DNA that was found on the murder weapon – and weeks before Broadnax scheduled execution on April 30 this year, Cummings suddenly confessed to being the one who pulled the trigger.
Cummings said in a prison video filmed in a last-ditch bid to stop 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 shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swann.”
But Texan officials dismissed the confession as “questionable new evidence” and proceeded with the execution.
Now his devastated widow has revealed all about his final moments, and claimed she is convinced he was not to blame.
Tiana was working, training up in the legal profession, and started a penpal service to get to know the inner workings of the US legal system.
Telling how she started to write to Broadnax after spotting his case, she said: “I said to myself, ‘There’s something wrong with this case’.”
The pair wrote and spoke on the phone but eventually a bond formed and they became an item.
Tiana decided to visit Broadnax, leaving her 8-year-old daughter with the girl’s biological father and after time, he proposed to her while she was visiting him in jail.
The pair formally tied the knot in a 20 minute ceremony between prison glass on April 14, 2026, at the Allan B Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas.
Broadnax was executed by lethal injection at he state penitentiary in Huntsville, around 70 miles north of Houston, two weeks later on April 30.
Tiana says she kept screaming “I love you” to him and he struggled for 20 minutes after the injection was administered.
Before being put to death, Broadnax apologised, saying: “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.”
Speaking after his execution, Tiana said in a statement: “James was never a psychopath or predator, but he was a troubled teen who deeply regretted his participation in the robbery that led to his cousin killing Mr. Swan and Mr. Butler.
“He found his footing and profoundly transformed himself during his nearly two decades on death row.
“Through discipline, Christian faith, and an unwavering commitment to growth, James dedicated his life to becoming a source of stability, mentorship, and healing for others around him.
“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’s were.”
Broadnax was the third inmate executed in Texas this year – a state that carries out more executions than any other in the US.