Kardashians Mourn Brandon Bernard After Execution: ‘Breaks My Heart’ – Hollywood Life

Kylie Jenner & More Of Kim Kardashian’s Siblings Devastated Over Brandon Bernard Execution

The Kardashian and Jenner sisters are lending Kim support after Brandon Bernard, the inmate she tried to save from execution, was killed on December 10.

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Image Credit: Stacey Brownstein

Kim Kardashian‘s sisters joined her in mourning Brandon Bernard as the state of Indiana executed the inmate she tried desperately to save. Brandon, 40, was sentenced to death by lethal injection on December 10 for a crime he committed just months after turning 18. Kim revealed that she spoke to Brandon, whom she had grown close to while trying to appeal his case, in the final hours before his death. “Just spoke to Brandon for what will likely be the last time. Hardest call I’ve ever had,” Kim wrote on social media.

Kylie Jenner Instagram
Kylie Jenner/Instagram

“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,” Kim continued. “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. We didn’t say goodbye bc we wanted to be hopeful that we would talk again, we said talk to you soon!”

Kylie Jenner, 23, reposted Kim’s message to her Instagram Story and added, “makes me cry fr. Kim you are so special and ur heart is so big. Praying for Brandon.” She added crying and heart emojis. Kendall Jenner, 24, posted the message to her Instagram Story, as well. She wrote, “This just breaks my heart.” Kourtney Kardashian, 41, posted a beautiful black and white photo of Brandon and his family, labeled with the peace dove emoji on Instagram.

Brandon Bernard
Brandon Bernard in a 2016 file photo (Stacey Brownstein)

Kim worked tirelessly to raise awareness of Brandon’s case, including pleading with President Donald Trump on Twitter to save him from execution. Brandon was a teenager when he and four other boys robbed youth pastors Todd and Stacie Bagley. When he and another boy split from the group, ringleader Christopher Vialva and two accomplices carjacked the couple and threw them in the trunk. Christopher decided to shoot both Todd and Stacie, then later told Brandon to cover up the evidence by setting the car on fire.

Brandon thought they were both dead, but in court, the prosecution argued that Stacie died of smoke inhalation. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to the death penalty in 2000. An independent medical examiner determined after the trial that Stacie was actually “medically dead” before the fire, though. With that new evidence, multiple jury members, and even a prosecutor, said that they wouldn’t have given him the death penalty.

Before receiving a lethal injection, Brandon reportedly spoke for three minutes, apologizing to the Bagely family. “I’m sorry. That’s the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day,” he said, according to the Associated Press. Brandon’s execution is the ninth of 2020 after the Trump administration lifted a 17-year moratorium on capital punishment in July.

Brandon’s death was the first execution during a lame-duck presidential period in 130 years. The White House announced that they are planning four more executions before Trump’s term ends on January 20. Should they all happen, his total will be at 13 — the most executions to happen under one president in over a century.