Death row rapper executed days after marrying Brit – despite cousin’s confession

James Broadnax, 37, was executed in Texas nearly 18 years after the murders of two Christian music producers outside of a recording studio in the city of Garland

A death row inmate has been executed tonight despite his cousin admitting he was the one who committed the crime. James Broadnax, 37, was sentenced to death for the 2008 shootings of two Christian music producers outside a studio in Dallas nearly 18 years ago.

The Texas lag claims prosecutors misused rap lyrics he wrote to secure his death sentence. Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, fatally shot and robbed Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in the parking lot of Butler’s recording studio in Garland.

Cummings was sentenced to life without parole, CBS News reports. Prosecutors say Broadnax, 37, confessed to the shooting to reporters outside the prison, saying: “I pulled the trigger” and that he had no remorse. But Cummings has recently confessed to being the shooter.

In spite of that, Broadnax received a lethal injection at 6.47pm local time at the state penitentiary in Huntsville despite appeals. Just days earlier on April 14, he married Tiana Krasniqi, a British-based law school graduate at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas.

His lawyers argued that Cummings has recently confessed to being the shooter; and Broadnax’s constitutional rights were violated because prosecutors allegedly eliminated potential jurors during his trial on the basis of race.

“I’m really gonna tell it like it’s supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer. I shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swann,” Cummings said recently from prison in a video created as part of the efforts to stop Broadnax’s execution.

Broadnax’s attorneys said Cummings’ confession is “corroborated by the fact that his DNA, and not Mr. Broadnax’s, was found on the murder weapon and in the pocket of one of the victims.”

In the video, Broadnax said his confession was false as at the time he didn’t care about his life. Broadnax’s lawyers say he was under the influence of drugs during the television interviews. He also apologized to the families of Butler and Swan for taking part in the robbery.

“I wish I could show them my soul, so they could see just how sorry I am. I am very much remorseful for everything that happened,” Broadnax said.

Broadnax’s attorneys had argued in an earlier appeal that prosecutors had violated his constitutional rights by using some of the rap lyrics he wrote to portray him as a violent and dangerous person to secure a death sentence.

Several A-list rappers, including Travis Scott, T.I. and Killer Mike, had filed briefs at the Supreme Court in support of Broadnax’s appeal, which was rejected.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office has described Cummings’ confession as the shooter as “questionable new evidence.”

Theresa Butler, Matthew Butler’s mother, has asked that the execution proceed.

“This so-called confession from Cummings is just a stall tactic by Broadnax’s desperate defense team. It’s all a lie,” Butler wrote in a post on social media.

Broadnax was the third person put to death this year in Texas, which has historically held more executions than any other state.

Earlier this week, Tiana Krasniqi appeared on ITV’s This Morning via video link ahead of their wedding ceremony, telling hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, if the execution does take place she wants to be there.

Tiana said she met Broadnax after she started her Master’s in international human rights law, focusing on racial disparities on Texas’ death row. She felt his case fell into that category and contacted him, and they later fell for each other.