The final hours leading up to Brandon Bernard's execution have been revealed by Kim Kardashian.
The reality TV star who campaigns for prison reform had been pushing for President Donald Trump to commute Bernard's sentence for the 1999 killing of two Texas youth ministers, but her efforts were unsuccessful. Bernard died by lethal injection at 9:27 p.m. on Thursday at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Kardashian was with him until his final hour and live-tweeted regular updates to her followers.
"Just spoke to Brandon for what will likely be the last time. Hardest call I’ve ever had," she tweeted an hour before Bernard's execution. "Brandon, selfless as always, was focused on his family and making sure they are ok. He told me not to cry because our fight isn’t over."
In a follow-up tweet, Kardashian described how Bernard was feeling "claustrophobic" during the wait.
"When he told me he’s claustrophobic and they offered to give him a shot of Sedative to calm him down before they put him in the chair and he just didn’t want to panic, I literally lost it. I had to mute my phone so he wouldn’t hear me cry like that," she wrote.
"As he was in the chair his attorney called me and they just had their last call and said this...Brandon said he loves you and wants to say thank you again He said he doesn’t feel too claustrophobic in the chair," Kardashian continued shortly after Bernard's death.
"Brandon wanted me to tell every single person who worked on his behalf supporting him in any way a huge thank you. He was certain he was gonna have the chance to tell you all himself and write you all letters but he told me to tell you all how grateful he is for you!" she added.
During his three-minute last words, Bernard apologized to the family of his victims.
"I'm sorry ... I wish I could take it all back, but I can't," he said according to CNN. "That's the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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