A convicted Texas death row inmate was executed by lethal injection while his new wife screamed “I love you” and pressed against the execution chamber window in a highly emotional scene that unfolded Thursday evening.
James Broadnax, 37, was put to death for the 2008 shooting deaths of two men during a robbery in suburban Dallas. He maintained his innocence until the end, telling witnesses in his final statement that the case against him was wrong and urging supporters not to give up.
Inside the viewing area, his wife, Tiana Krasniqi, was seen breaking down as the procedure began. She had married Broadnax just weeks earlier after forming a relationship with him through prison correspondence while she studied human rights law in the United Kingdom.
Witnesses said Krasniqi repeatedly shouted “I love you” as the lethal injection was administered. At one point, she reportedly flailed toward the glass separating her from the chamber before being escorted out after the execution was completed.
Broadnax was declared dead at 6:47 p.m. CDT, about 21 minutes after the process began.
In his final words, Broadnax said, “I’m innocent, the facts of my case should speak for itself,” while also asking for forgiveness from the victims’ families, several of whom were present.
He was convicted of killing Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler during a parking lot robbery tied to a recording studio in 2008, when he was 19 years old. Prosecutors said Broadnax and a co-defendant opened fire during the incident.
After the execution, Krasniqi posted on social media, claiming Broadnax suffered during the procedure and questioning the fairness of the process, writing that “they killed my husband.”
The case has drawn renewed attention due to Krasniqi’s public role in his final days and the emotional scenes witnessed during the execution, adding another layer of controversy to an already long-running legal saga.
Broadnax was the third person executed in Texas in 2026 and the tenth in the United States this year.
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