Former ballerina Ashley Benefield was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of her estranged husband in a case dubbed “the Black Swan murder trial.”
The verdict was handed down late Tuesday after only a few hours of deliberation in a Manatee County, Fla. courtroom. Her bond was revoked and she was taken into custody.
She faces up to 30 years in prison, but sentencing has not been scheduled.
Benefield, 32, had claimed self-defense under Florida’s “stand your ground law” for fatally shooting 58-year old Doug Benefield in September 2020. The defense argued Navy veteran Doug was manipulative, controlling and abusive.
According to documents submitted to the court, Doug struck Ashley during a fight on Sept. 27, 2020 at their home in Lakewood Ranch. He allegedly tried to corner her in a room before she shot him multiple times and ran to a neighbor’s house.
The prosecution argued Ashley Benefield would stop at nothing to gain sole custody of the couple’s daughter Emerson and get Doug out of their lives. They said he only learned their child had been born when a restraining order was lifted against him.
He was granted visitation rights in July 2018 and was helping Ashley pack for a move to Maryland — where he planned to move as well — the night he was shot.
Benefield, a former ballerina, was originally charged with second-degree murder, but was convicted of the lesser crime.
The case became known as the “Black Swan murder trial” after the Natalie Portman film in which the actress plays a ballerina in distress.
