Ex-Ballerina Ashley Benefield Sentenced For Fatally Capturing Husband

Whereas in a Florida court docket on Tuesday, Ashley, 33, obtained her sentence in silence for fatally taking pictures her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, in September 2020, based on NBC Information.

In July, Ashley was convicted of manslaughter, a lesser cost than the second-degree homicide sought by the prosecution. Her sentence of 20 years is lower than the 30 attainable years she confronted.

On Tuesday, Circuit Courtroom Choose Mathew Whyte stated that he believed Ashley murdered her husband whereas beneath duress and confirmed regret for killing him, however discovered that she didn’t deserve a lesser punishment, per NBC Information. Along with 20 years in jail, Ashley was additionally sentenced to 10 years of probation.

Whereas Whyte handed out her sentence, Ashley gave the impression to be devoid of emotion, based on the outlet.

Following her sentencing listening to, Doug’s household stated they didn’t agree with Whyte’s discovering that Ashley was remorseful, however famous that they have been happy with the sentence, per NBC Information.

Doug’s kinfolk, together with his daughter Eva, spoke in court docket. Whereas talking outdoors the courthouse after the sentencing, Eva stated, “I’ve waited so lengthy to have the ability to communicate to her face-to-face … I hope jail serves her properly.”

Throughout the trial, Ashley claimed that she killed Doug in self-defense. The prosecution, in the meantime, argued that Ashley murdered her husband in order that she might be a single mom to her and Doug’s youngster.

Self-defense is what Ashley’s authorized workforce argued in court docket, but it surely was clear the jury did not utterly purchase that, primarily based on their responsible verdict for manslaughter.

Ashley even took the stand in her personal protection at trial, testifying that whereas she had killed her husband, it was executed in self-defense after he grew to become bodily abusive.

One witness, Bruce Ferris, a psychological well being skilled specializing in home and household traumas, testified that Ashley’s displayed behaviors match the sample of somebody who’s a sufferer of home abuse. He known as them “methods of compliance, not desirous to poke the bear.”

Dr. Jason Quintal, who’d labored with the couple up to now, described Doug as “any person who was domineering” and “super-controlling.” A realtor, Vincent Vizzaccaro, testified that Doug had needed to purchase a home straight behind the one Ashley was dwelling in throughout their separation.

Lastly, a forensics professional, Michael Haag, took the stand and talked about bullet trajectories from the crime scene. He testified that Ashley needed to have been shifting throughout the taking pictures, which sits in stark distinction to the prosecution saying she shot her husband from behind.

Based on the prosecution, Ashley murdered her husband so she might be a single mom.

“This case is a few lady who very early on in her being pregnant determined she needed to be a single mom,” argued Assistant State Legal professional Suzanne O’Donnell. “She would cease at nothing to acquire that aim.”

They offered their very own proof in regards to the taking pictures, as properly. “Based mostly on entry wounds on Douglas it doesn’t seem that he was dealing with Ashley when she started taking pictures,” the Manatee County Sheriff’s Workplace stated in an affidavit obtained by The New York Put up.

“It additionally doesn’t seem that Douglas had taken any sort of defensive or combative stance. He was not discovered to have any weapons on his particular person or close to him,” the affidavit continued.

Its conclusion: “Detectives discovered no proof that she was performing in self-defense when she fired a number of pictures at her husband.”

Ashley and Doug first met in 2016 at a GOP fundraiser in Palm Seashore when she was 24 years previous. A skilled dancer, Ashley shared her aspirations to open her personal ballet firm. Two weeks after they met, the couple was married and he was funding her studio.

Based on the prosecution, issues took a flip when the cash began to expire and Ashley’s ballet firm faltered. An ensuing divorce battle turned ugly with allegations of infidelity on either side and abuse.

Whereas they have been solely married for 4 years, Ashley filed allegations of abuse in opposition to Doug a number of instances, together with a narrative that he’d shot a gun on the ceiling to “shut her up,” that he’d kicked their canine unconscious, and that he’d even tried to poison her whereas she was pregnant.

All through the trial, it was revealed that the couple was estranged when their daughter, now six, was born, with Doug solely discovering out Ashley had given delivery when she filed a restraining order in opposition to him, per WTVT.

A choose beforehand discovered no proof of abuse by Doug in relation to those allegations, the NY Put up reported. The prosecution argued that every one of this was a part of a calculated technique by the defendant to realize sole custody of their youngster. And when that did not work, she took much more excessive measures.

That they had loved a interval of reconciliation after Ashley’s unsubstantiated allegations, per the outlet, till she shot and killed her husband in September 2020.

In case you are experiencing home violence, name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. The hotline is out there 24/7 in additional than 170 languages; Calls are confidential and toll-free.