Tiana Broadnax, a British woman from London, says prison staff were in tears when she went to say her final goodbye to her husband before his execution in Texas. She described losing her sense of reality and running after the funeral car carrying his body, before being given 20 minutes with him in a chapel.
The British law graduate and single mother had married James Broadnax just two weeks before his execution. She said the visit to see his body was the first time she had been able to physically touch her husband. Broadnax, 37, was executed in Huntsville, Texas, on April 30. He had been on death row for the fatal shootings of music producers Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside a Dallas studio in 2008.
Final moments and emotional goodbye
Speaking to LADbible Stories, Tiana recalled what happened after she arrived at the funeral home ahead of his body. She said: "I saw the funeral car. I started running after the funeral car. I was acting crazy at that point. I lost sense of reality."
She continued: "And the spiritual advisor, the warden, who had been crying himself, they grabbed me and they took me to the door, said, 'You have 20 minutes with the body.'" During that final visit, she told him: "You are at peace now."
Claims of innocence and legal battle
Tiana maintains her husband's innocence. Broadnax initially confessed to the killings but later withdrew his statement, saying he had been high on drugs. He and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, were both 19 when they attempted to rob the two producers while under the influence of cannabis and PCP. Cummings was sentenced to life without parole.
Broadnax's legal team sought to overturn his conviction and halt the execution, arguing that Cummings' DNA had been found on the murder weapon. Weeks before Broadnax's death, Cummings said in a video: "I'm really gonna tell it like it's supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer." Texas officials dismissed this as "questionable new evidence", and the execution went ahead.
Hours before death
Describing the hours before her husband's death, Tiana said she brought him his favourite Powerade and beef jerky because he was struggling to eat. She said: "He had been crying. He had been crying so much. I didn't even know what to do," she recalled. She said he told her: "I never knew how loved I could be. I never knew I was worthy of being fought for."
When she entered the viewing room, Tiana said she saw him strapped down beneath a bedsheet. She recalled: "And again, soon as I turn left, he turns and we both look at each other in the eyes and I drop and I scream." She said she was warned she could be arrested if she struck the window. Seeing plastic coverings over his arms, she described him as resembling a "flipping experiment".
Through the glass partition, Tiana repeatedly told Broadnax she loved him and was "sorry for failing" him. She said he replied: "No, baby, don't blame yourself, stop blaming yourself."
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."
Tiana said she waited another 20 minutes, watching his lips and face turn blue and veins appear on his forehead. Once he was pronounced dead, she asked staff to "get me the hell out of here" before being escorted to the funeral home.
