Ashley Benefield, the previous ballerina convicted in July of manslaughter for killing her estranged husband in what she claimed was self-defense, was sentenced in the present day to twenty years in jail plus 10 years of probation.
Benefield, 33, shot her husband, 58-year-old Doug Benefield, at her dwelling in Florida on 27 September 2020. The following media circus and trial, dubbed the “Black Swan trial,” has left many questioning if the act was intentional or in self-defense.
Benefield, who was initially charged with second-degree homicide, testified in court docket that her husband was abusive and controlling – and that her a number of earlier makes an attempt to hunt safety from authorities had gone unheeded.
She stated she sought injunctions in 2018 and 2020 to bar Doug from seeing their baby, accusing him of abuse. No felony fees have been introduced in opposition to him, and the latter case in opposition to Doug was nonetheless in progress when he died.
In the course of the trial, protection attorneys additionally introduced two accusations of juror misconduct. One was for a juror they argued didn’t reveal info suggesting doable impartiality and one other accused a juror of relaying details about the trial by way of cellular phone. Matthew Whyte, the circuit court docket decide, dismissed each.
On the day Benefield shot her husband, she testified to an altercation during which she believed Doug was attempting to kill her in her dwelling. She stated he blocked her from leaving, superior in direction of her and struck her within the face whereas she pointed a gun at him, fearing for her life.
Suzanne O’Donnell, the prosecutor, argued that bodily proof from the taking pictures – together with the deadly bullet wound backward and forward, not the entrance of Doug’s physique – contradicted Benefield’s testimony. O’Donnell accused Benefield of “performing” grief within the courtroom and stated that killing Doug was Benefield’s manner of reaching her final aim, to realize sole custody of their baby.
Benefield was acquitted of homicide however obtained the lesser cost of manslaughter, which carried a most sentence of 30 years. At Tuesday’s listening to, she reportedly remained expressionless because the punishment was learn.
Doug’s family stated within the listening to that the sentence was honest and that they by no means believed Ashley confirmed regret.
“I’ve waited so lengthy to talk to her, head to head,” stated Eva Benefield, Doug’s daughter, in a sufferer affect assertion. “I hope jail serves her effectively.”
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