A former ballerina who fatally shot her husband in a case dubbed the “Black Swan murder” was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison.
Ashley Benefield, 32, was not actually convicted of murder but of first-degree manslaughter in the 2020 killing of her husband, Doug, in Bradenton, Fla.
Benefield argued that she acted in self-defense when she killed her husband. She testified that Doug Benefield emotionally and physically abused her for years in their relationship, and that she feared for her life when she killed him.
Prosecutors said Benefield made up stories of Doug’s abuse in an attempt to ensure custody of their daughter, Emerson, who was 2 years old at the time.
Doug, who was 58 years old when he was killed, said his wife didn’t even tell him about their daughter’s birth until a judge forced her to six months later.
The duo allegedly reconciled in 2020 and planned to move from Florida to Maryland together. They were packing a truck at Ashley Benefield’s mother’s house in Bradenton when the deadly dispute erupted, according to police.
Ashley Benefield testified that she tried to leave that day and Doug stopped her. She told the court she went to a different room, grabbed a gun and confronted him. According to Benefield’s account, her husband then assumed a fighting stance and lunged at her, leading her to shoot him.
However, prosecutors argued that Doug Benefield was turning away from his wife when he was killed. Authorities pursued second-degree murder charges against Ashley Benefield, but the jury convicted her on a lesser count of first-degree manslaughter.
In Florida, the mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 11.5 years, according to the Bradenton Herald. Benefield faced a maximum of 30 years in prison.
