Rhiannon Ingle
A British woman has opened up about her decision to marry her fiancé on death row just a matter of weeks before his execution.
James Broadnax, 37, was sentenced to death for the 2008 shooting of two men when he was 19, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Campaigns have pushed to halt his execution, citing new evidence, racism claims, and co-defendant Damarius Cummings’ statement that he was the sole shooter.
Earlier this month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Broadnax’s appeal, noting he had not withdrawn his confession, Fox 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth reports.
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Broadnax is due to be executed by lethal injection at the end of this month (30 April) at the Huntsville Unit in Texas. He tied the knot with his fiancée, Tiana Krasniqi, on Tuesday (14 April)
Speaking on This Morning the day before (13 April), Krasniqi, 31, shared a little more details about the ceremony.
"It's pretty much the same behind glass again," she said. "Texas has a very strict rule about no contact with death row inmates. So, yeah, 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."
They have never touched or spent time together outside prison, but built a relationship through daily conversations.
Krasniqi first contacted Broadnax while studying international human rights law, focusing on 'racial disparities'.
One of Broadnax's petitions to the Supreme Court relates to racial discrimination, per Fox 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth.
'Two or three months later,' she developed feelings, despite neither of them 'looking for anything'.
Krasniqi recalled: "We kind of realised that it was just more than a study, but it was never intentional.
"He's very intelligent, very well spoken, very respectful. He's just your normal person ... I know a lot of people would say, 'You haven't spent a day or a night with him,' but you speak to somebody every single day for 6-7 hours a day, so you kind of go through the ups and downs."
She added: "It's just his personality and who he is as a person. Believe it or not, he does have a moral compass."
They became engaged during a prison visit after he 'professed everything'.
Her family does not support the relationship with the bride revealing: "No one's happy. It's not your typical, conventional relationship. There's not any support, especially since being here.
"I haven't heard from anyone, which is fine. I completely understand. I'm not going to hold any grudges or anything from anybody ... Nobody's going to understand it."
Krasniqi believes Broadnax was 'wrongfully convicted' and hopes the execution is stopped.
She said he was under the influence of the 'mind-altering' drug PCP when he confessed, arguing: "He pretty much took the blame for something he didn't do.
"He acted in a way which showed he was under the influence."
She also cited a 'Batson violation case', alleging jury selection bias.
"They had excluded all African American jurors from the case until the last minute, when the judge had said, 'This is becoming a Batson violation, you need to add an African American in this jury pool as soon as possible,' but they only added one," she claimed.
"Also within that time, there was the questioning of the jurors. It wasn't the most racially neutral question, but they say it was."
A second petition challenges the use of his rap lyrics at the sentencing, which she claims were misrepresented.
She also pointed to Cummings’ alleged admission and DNA evidence, saying 'the DNA, which always excluded James from both the weapon and the victims' clothing, it always matched to Damarius'.
If the execution goes ahead, she plans to attend.
"I think you still have hope because the evidence is so overwhelming that he didn't commit the crime, and you'd hope that people do stand up and fight for somebody you know didn't commit the crime," she said.