A man who was executed by injection on Thursday for killing two people nearly 18 years ago may have been innocent, new evidence suggests.
James Broadnax was convicted for the shooting of two men outside a music studio in Dallas, Texas, in 2008.
Broadnax, 37, was executed this week after the US Supreme Court threw out a last-ditch appeal to save him.
As he was dying, he told his followers to ‘not give up’ before the sedative stopped him mid-sentence.
But in a recently released video, Broadnax’s cousin Demarius Cummings, who was sentenced to life without parole for his part in the shooting, has claimed to have been the one who killed Matthew Butler and Steve Swan.
Lawyers representing Broadnax said that Cummings’ confession is backed up by his DNA evidence having been found on both the murder weapon and in one of the victim’s pockets, Daily Mail reported.
Concerns were also raised after prosecutors submitted lyrics of Broadnax’s raps as proof he was of dangerous character, allegedly to up his sentence.
Broadnax’s attorneys have further suggested that a spreadsheet highlighting the names of each black juror was used to exclude all seven black potential jurors in the case.
One black juror was later reinstated to the trial.
A key part of the prosecution’s case was Broadnax’s apparent admission to having ‘pulled the trigger’ to reporters just hours after the incident.
However, Broadnax’s lawyers say he was high on drugs when he made the comment.
Among Broadnax’s ardent supporters was his British wife, Tiana Krasniqi, from Lewisham, London, who met the Texan while she was studying for a master’s degree in international human rights at the University of Law.
In an emotional TikTok video shared hours before Broadnax’s execution, she wrote: ‘To those who want him dead. Knowing he didn’t do it. Take me instead of him. That’s how confident I am.’
She claimed the victims’ families had laughed as they watched Broadnax put to death and that the injection was so lethal that it gave him bruising on his neck and a nosebleed.
The 31-year-old had been researching racial disparities in the US criminal justice system as part of her degree. The couple tied the knot just days before his death.
Explaining their whirlwind relationship, Ms Kransiqi said she had conversed with Broadnax via email before seeing him regularly for three months.
The pair then married in a modest 20-minute ceremony at the Allan B Polunsky Unit, where they had to exchange their vows behind glass, as state law forbids contact with inmates on death row.
She told ITV’s This Morning: ‘It’s a very quick 20-minute ceremony, you have an officiant, you say your vows and that’s it and it’s time to go.’
She added about their relationship: ‘Nobody is going to understand it, but it’s okay.’
In his final statement, Broadnax said he ‘prayed to God for forgiveness’.
However, Theresa, the mother of a victim named Matthew, accused Broadnax’s lawyers of attempting to ‘stall’ the justice process and that his claims were ‘all a lie’.
Texas is one of 27 states that officially sanction capital punishment, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, having executed 599 people since 1976 – more than any other state.
Broadnax was the 10th person to face the death penalty in the US this year and the third in Texas.
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