Texas is scheduled to execute death row inmate James Broadnax by lethal injection at 6 p.m. tonight at the Huntsville Unit for the 2008 robbery and shooting deaths of two Christian music producers in Garland.
Broadnax, 37, was convicted in the June 19, 2008, killings of Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28. The men were shot multiple times outside Zion Gate Records, a recording studio in Garland. Authorities said Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, planned the robbery but got away with just $2. Broadnax confessed to the shootings shortly after his arrest and was sentenced to death in 2009. Cummings received a life sentence.
The case drew renewed scrutiny in March when Cummings signed a sworn affidavit claiming he, not Broadnax, fired the fatal shots. Despite that development, along with appeals citing jury selection issues and the use of Broadnax’s rap lyrics as evidence, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his latest requests for a stay earlier this week. On Tuesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted against clemency or a reprieve.
Broadnax has been on death row nearly 18 years. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says the execution will proceed as planned unless a last-minute court order intervenes. The double murder shocked North Texas families at the time and continues to highlight ongoing debates over capital punishment in the state.
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