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Former Ballerina Dubbed "Black Swan" Is Sentenced to 20 Years for Killing Her Husband
"I hope prison serves her well," victim Doug Benefield's adult daughter said in court Tuesday.
A former ballerina, dubbed the “Black Swan” in the media, has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars for shooting her husband to death in 2020.
The sentence, which also included 10 years of probation, was handed down in a Florida courtroom Tuesday, Dec. 4, four months after Ashley Benefield was convicted of manslaughter.
Ashley’s defense team had argued that she shot and killed husband Doug Benefield, 58, in self-defense at her Florida home on Sept. 27, 2020 after fearing for her life during a heated argument.
While Circuit Court Judge Matthew Whyte agreed Tuesday, according to NBC News, that Ashley was under duress at the time and later showed remorse for the deadly shooting, he also believed that those factors shouldn’t lead to a lesser sentence.
She had faced the possibility of up to 30 years behind bars.
Ashley sat stoically in the Manatee County courtroom as Whyte delivered a 20-year prison sentence, followed by 10 years of probation.
Doug Benefield's Daughter Eva Addresses Ashley Benefield
Doug’s adult daughter Eva Benefield addressed her former stepmom during a powerful victim impact statement at the hearing.
"I've waited so long to speak to her, face to face," she said, per NBC News. "I hope prison serves her well."
Eva added that she still wants to know “why” Ashley shot and killed her father and argued in court that she believes the former ballerina took advantage of Doug’s kind nature, according to Florida station WTVT.
"Doug Benefield was kind to a fault," Eva told the court. "He was smart. He was strong. And most importantly, he was generous. His generosity is what got him killed."
Doug’s brother David Benefield told Ashley he forgave her, but added that he is still plagued by the death.
“You have caused me the greatest loss that I have experienced,” he said.
The Trial Against Ashley Benefield
The details of what happened that fateful day were the focus of a high-profile murder trial this summer, where Ashley was facing charges of second-degree murder.
Her attorneys argued that she killed Doug in self-defense at her mother’s Lakewood Ranch home after an argument broke out while the estranged spouses were packing for an upcoming move to Maryland, where they planned to live separately.
Ashley testified that she was in fear for her life when she fired the gun.
"I just held the gun like in front of me and I said, 'Stop,' and he like, turned and he got into this like, almost like, a fighting stance. He started like, moving his arms and his hands around … he started coming towards me and he lunged at me, and I just pulled the trigger," she testified at trial, according to CBS News.
Ashley and her attorneys painted Doug as a controlling man with a history of violent outbursts, once allegedly firing a gun into the air during an argument and punching the family’s dog unconscious, according to the New York Post.
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They argued the couple’s whirlwind romance quickly fell apart after Ashley got pregnant in 2018, prompting Ashley, who they’ve said has been diagnosed with PTSD, to move from South Carolina to her mother’s home in Florida to try to escape the abuse.
While she was pregnant, Ashley alleged that she believed Doug was poisoning her, but police investigated the claims and never filed any charges.
She accused Doug of child abuse in 2020, but again, he was not charged in connection to the allegations.
At Tuesday’s hearing, her attorney Neil Taylor argued that she killed Doug because she feared for her life.
"She acted out of fear, for her personal safety, and shot Douglas Benefield in self-defense," Taylor said, according to WTVT.
However, prosecutors questioned Ashley’s claims of abuse, calling them “fictitious allegations.”
Prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell argued that Ashley, who kept her young daughter away from Doug for the first six months of her life and only relented after a court order, had been willing to do anything to win custody of the child during a contentious legal battle, as detailed in NBC's Dateline.
"She had a goal to raise this child by herself and get Doug Benefield out of their lives, and this was the culmination of that pattern," O'Donnell said, who also argued that Ashley had been the only person armed that night.
While a jury decided not to convict Ashley of murder, she was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Ashley’s attorneys sought a new trial alleging juror misconduct, but Whyte denied the request on Tuesday after looking into the defense team’s arguments.
After the judge handed down the sentence, Doug’s family said they believed the punishment was fair.
"The sentencing means we know what it's going to cost her, finally, as opposed to what it’s cost their daughter, Ashley and Doug's daughter, what it’s cost Eva every day in her life to miss her dad the way that only he could do," Doug’s cousin, Tommy Benefield said, WTVT reported.
Ashley's attorneys have said they plan to appeal.
