Tiana Broadnax, a law graduate from London, has spoken of the emotional final hours she spent with her husband James Broadnax before his execution in Texas, saying she will "never forget" his tearful words.
James Broadnax, 37, was executed on April 30 for the fatal shootings of Christian music producers Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside a Dallas studio in 2008. Tiana had married him just a fortnight before he was due to die by lethal injection.
A Final Morning Together
On the morning of his execution, Tiana found James in floods of tears. She brought him his favourite drink and a snack, hoping to persuade him to eat as they faced their last morning together. Speaking to LADbible Stories, Tiana recalled: "I got him his favourite Powerade and beef jerky because he couldn't eat. So I said 'just eat something' and he was just crying. And I'll never forget. He leaned back and he said, 'I never knew how loved I could be. I never knew I was worthy of being fought for.'"
She tried to reassure him that people were still fighting to stop his execution. "And I said, 'You need to know you are loved. People are fighting for you.' And he kept saying to me, 'I never knew people could fight for me. I never knew I was worthy.'"
The couple cried and took their final photographs together before an escort team arrived to take Tiana out at noon. "How do you console somebody who is at the last hours of his life?" she asked.
Final Moments and Last Words
Tiana said staff followed her halfway to her car to stop her following the van taking Broadnax to Huntsville, where the death chamber is located. When she later saw him restrained to a gurney, she fell to her knees and screamed, describing him as looking like a "flipping experiment".
Recalling his final words to her, she said: "He was like, 'I love you queen, don't give up, I love you queen, don't give up.' As he said 'don't', his head jerked back and he went [gasping noise] and then his eyes rolled up and he dropped. And I screamed."
Background and Campaign
Tiana had travelled nearly 5,000 miles to Texas after first coming across the death row inmate through her academic studies. She fell in love with him, became convinced he was innocent and campaigned to save his life.
Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, were both 19 when they attempted to rob the men while under the influence of cannabis and PCP. Cummings received a life sentence without parole, while Broadnax was sentenced to death after initially confessing. He later withdrew his confession, saying he had been under the influence of drugs.
Efforts to halt the execution intensified after his cousin's DNA was found on the murder weapon and a victim's clothing. Cummings also released a video claiming responsibility for the killing, in which he said: "I'm really gonna tell it like it's supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer."
Dr Phil also drew attention to the case before the execution, saying: "I'm not here today to tell you that James Broadnax is innocent. I'm not here to tell you he's guilty. What I am here to do is look at the facts, all of them. And ask the hard questions that someone needs to be asking because a man's life is on the line and the clock is running out."
