Ashley Benefield's Fate Is in the Hands of the Jury as the Black Swan Murder Trial Ends
"This case is about a woman who very early on in her pregnancy decided she wanted to be a single mother"
Published July 30 2024, 5:49 p.m. ET
You know a case is complicated when the media chooses to bestow a name upon it. Well, it's either difficult or flashy. In the case of Ashley Benefield, it's a bit of both. The former ballerina stands accused of murdering her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, in September 2020. The case involves a failing ballet studio, accusations of abuse, child endangerment, animal cruelty, and a claim of self-defense.
The Black Swan Murder Trial lasted less than a week before the jury began deliberation. If convicted, she faces 25 years to life in prison. Ashley is now waiting for her fate to be decided by six of her peers. Here's what we know.
Ashley Benefield is now waiting to hear back from the jury.
As of the time of this writing, the jury has been deliberating for less than an hour. Ashley has been charged with second-degree murder in a case that has gained national attention. It's easy to see why the story of a younger beautiful woman allegedly killing her older, estranged husband would be the stuff of social media fodder. It's like something out of a Lifetime movie.
There have been emotional testimonies from Doug's daughter Eva who told ABC's 20/20 that she questioned her stepmother's claim of self-defense. "If it was self-defense, why did she shoot — why shoot multiple times?" she asked. "If I was defending myself in a situation I would shoot once and I wouldn't shoot to kill. I wouldn't take a life away. And she clearly wanted to take my dad's life away and ruin her own child's life and ruin my life."
The child Eva is referring to is the daughter Ashley and Doug shared. Emerson was born in 2018 and became a pawn in what was described as a cantankerous divorce. Ashley believed Doug was trying to hurt their unborn child which resulted in her fleeing to Florida where she gave birth without telling her estranged husband. The state argues that Ashley shot Doug because they were arguing about custody, and Ashley didn't want Doug to see their daughter at all.
Is Ashley Benefield in jail?
According to Fox 13 Tampa Bay, Ashley is out on bond and is not currently in jail. Obviously that will change if she's found guilty. The jury has their work cut out for them as Ashley testified about the alleged abuse she sustained during her marriage to Doug, per USA Today. "I thought he was going to kill me," she said while fighting back tears. She then described exactly what happened the night she shot Doug.
The prosecution maintains that Ashley wanted to be a single mother, and saw only one path to achieve that goal. Apparently Ashley had undergone a psychiatric evaluation during which she shared she had no intention of fixing her marriage. Assistant state attorneys Suzanne O'Donnell and Rebecca Freel believe Ashley killed Doug in order to keep him from finding out her secret. "This case is about a woman who very early on in her pregnancy decided she wanted to be a single mother," said O'Donnell.
