US4 min(s) read
Published 15:34 09 Jun 2026 GMT
A woman from southeast London has opened up about the traumatic experience of watching her husband be executed just weeks after the pair married inside a maximum-security prison in Texas.
Tiana Krasniqi, 31, married Death Row inmate James Broadnax shortly before he was put to death by lethal injection on April 30. The couple had hoped his execution might be stopped at the last minute, but their efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Speaking about their wedding on British daytime show This Morning, Krasniqi said the pair exchanged "very deep vows" and tried to focus on their relationship rather than the uncertainty hanging over them.
"We were trying to not focus too much on what was looming and enjoy the moment, but at the same time, it was not easy," she said.
Broadnax, 37, was sentenced to death in 2009 after confessing to the fatal shootings of Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside a Dallas music studio in 2008. Prosecutors said he admitted he had "pulled the trigger" during the robbery, which was carried out alongside his cousin, Demarius Cummings.
Despite Cummings later claiming full responsibility for the killings and Broadnax pursuing appeals, attempts to halt the execution were denied.
Appearing on This Morning on May 18, Krasniqi described the emotional toll the experience has taken on her.
"After his execution, it's just been...it's only been two and a half weeks now," she said. "It's gone so fast, but it has affected me mentally quite a lot."
She explained that she waited in a facility referred to as a "hospitality house" before receiving a call informing her that Broadnax had been secured and that intravenous lines had been inserted.
"You wait there in like a little cafeteria until the phone rings and they say that he's been - in other words - trapped in, and the IV's been inserted in his veins," Krasniqi said.
She then described entering the execution chamber.
"You see him right in front of you, in front of a massive window, strapped in the gurney. In that moment, as everybody knows, I screamed.
"My brain couldn't comprehend what my eyes were seeing. It was a horrendous thing to ever see - not just because he's my husband, but in general. Nobody should ever have to see anything like that."
Although separated by thick glass, Krasniqi said she soon realised Broadnax could still hear her.
"So me and him were consistently speaking back and forth throughout the whole thing. We're speaking, we're talking to each other, which kind of in a weird way, it brought a bit of comfort - knowing that we can have our final conversation face to face. But at the same time it just wasn't enough. There was never enough time."
She said she struggled to process what was happening and was unsure how she was supposed to react in the moment.
Krasniqi also revealed she was later able to see Broadnax's body at a funeral home. According to her account, officials warned her not to touch him immediately after the execution in case any of the lethal injection drugs had leaked.
"I only had 20 minutes with him whilst his body was still warm, and then I didn't see him again until the following Tuesday," she said.
The mother-of-one said the weeks following Broadnax's execution have been extremely difficult.
"I've lost a lot of weight, mental stress, I can't sleep. I get panic attacks. I get flashbacks of the execution.
"I was so intense for two years on this case that it was like once he passed away, this intensity still stayed. But I'm like, but what am I intense for?
"I was consistently waiting for a phone call. I was consistently waiting for news. And it just all had gone. But it felt weird. It's like you're grieving not only the person but also the intensity that you were in."
Krasniqi said she plans to sit the bar exam and continue campaigning against the death penalty while also pursuing efforts to clear Broadnax's name.
"When you are now fighting for something that you've been in the shoes of, your fight is different.
"The drive is different. So, I definitely want to complete the bar and advocate against the death penalty and also clear his name...The fight hasn't ended yet."
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