Additional Coverage:
- Death row wife’s 3-word cry after watching execution of killer rapper she never met in person (themirror.com)
A Texas death row inmate was executed despite new claims that his cousin was the actual shooter in a 2008 double murder case. James Broadnax, 37, was put to death for the fatal shootings of two Christian music producers outside a Dallas-area recording studio nearly 18 years ago.
Broadnax had long argued that prosecutors unfairly used his rap lyrics against him during the trial to paint him as violent, helping to secure his death sentence. The crime involved Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, who robbed and shot Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in the parking lot of Butler’s studio in Garland.
Despite last-minute legal challenges, Broadnax received a lethal injection at 6:47 p.m. local time at the Huntsville state prison. Notably, just days before his execution on April 14, Broadnax married Tiana Krasniqi, a UK-trained law graduate who had been advocating on his behalf. Krasniqi was visibly emotional, hugging the execution chamber window and whispering “I love you” as the injection was administered.
Cummings was sentenced to life without parole for his role in the crime. However, in a recent video statement from jail, Cummings confessed to being the shooter, saying, “I was the killer.
I shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swann.” Broadnax’s defense team highlighted that Cummings’ DNA, not Broadnax’s, was found on the murder weapon and on one of the victims, underscoring their claim that Broadnax was wrongly convicted.
Broadnax himself denied his earlier confession, which he said was made under the influence of drugs during media interviews. In his final statement before execution, he maintained his innocence and expressed remorse for the robbery but not the killings.
He also appealed for forgiveness from the victims’ families and called for change, saying, “Texas got it wrong. I’m innocent, the facts of my case should speak for itself.”
His attorneys also raised concerns about racial bias in jury selection during his trial and condemned the use of his rap lyrics as evidence of character.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office dismissed Cummings’ admission as “questionable new evidence,” while the family of one victim, Theresa Butler, demanded that the execution proceed without delay. Butler publicly called the confession a “stall tactic” and “a lie.”
Broadnax became the third person executed in Texas this year, continuing the state’s long history of capital punishment. In interviews ahead of the execution, Krasniqi spoke about how she met Broadnax while studying racial disparities in the Texas justice system and how their relationship grew from advocacy into love.
The case has reignited debates over the fairness of the death penalty and the use of artistic expression as evidence in criminal trials, raising difficult questions about justice and due process in capital cases.