Broadnax, a North Texas man who had maintained that he was not the gunman in a fatal robbery nearly 18 years ago, was pronounced dead after receiving a lethal injection Thursday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Houston, according to the Associated Press. Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his attorneys’ request to stop the execution.
Prosecutors said 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 in 2008. Cummings received a life sentence without parole, while Broadnax was condemned for the two killings.
During a final statement, Broadnax remained defiant and addressed the victims’ families as he sought forgiveness. When asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Broadnax said, “I prayed to God for your forgiveness,” and added, “Despite what you think about me, I hope to God that prayer was answered.” He also told those present that “Texas got it wrong” and said he was innocent, arguing that “the facts of my case should speak for itself. Period,” the AP reported.
The execution was also marked by witnesses reacting during the procedure, AP said. Broadnax’s wife was among the witnesses and, as the process began, leaned toward the death chamber window with arms spread before she had to be helped out of the prison. During the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital, Broadnax urged supporters to continue fighting, telling them, “Don’t give up,” before he was stopped mid-sentence by a gasp. AP reported that he shook his head briefly and that all movement stopped before he was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. CDT, 21 minutes after the lethal dose began.
Broadnax’s attorneys had urged the Supreme Court to intervene while also pressing claims raised earlier in his appeals. They argued that Cummings had recently confessed to being the shooter, according to the AP report. They also challenged Broadnax’s constitutional rights, alleging prosecutors violated them by eliminating potential jurors during trial on the basis of race, and the attorneys alleged prosecutors used a spreadsheet during jury selection that “bolded only the names of every Black juror,” per court documents cited by AP. AP reported that one Black juror was later reinstated to the jury.
In a separate challenge, Broadnax’s lawyers contended prosecutors misused rap lyrics Broadnax wrote to depict him as violent and dangerous in order to secure his death sentence. The AP report said several prominent recording artists, including Travis Scott, T.I. and Killer Mike, filed briefs at the Supreme Court in support of Broadnax’s appeal.
Theresa Butler, the mother of Matthew Butler, asked that the execution proceed. AP reported that she wrote in a social media post that a confession by Cummings “is just a stall tactic by Broadnax’s desperate defense team. Its all a lie,” and that Broadnax was Black.
The AP report said Broadnax was the third person put to death this year in Texas and the 10th in the country. About an hour before Broadnax’s execution, Florida put to death James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, for beating and choking his 13-year-old step-niece to death, AP reported.