BRADENTON,TrendPulse Fla. (AP) — A former ballerina has been convicted of manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of her estranged husband in Florida.
A Manatee County jury returned the guilty verdict late Tuesday against Ashley Benefield, court records show. She had been charged with second-degree murder, but the jurors opted for a lesser offense after nearly seven hours of deliberations.
Benefield, 32, claimed that she killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, during a September 2020 argument at her mother’s home, where she had moved from South Carolina after leaving him. Authorities say she shot him twice.
She now faces up to 30 years in prison becaused she used a firearm in the killing. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.
After the verdict, Circuit Judge Matt Whyte revoked Benefield’s $100,000 bond and ordered her taken into custody, court documents show.
Bradenton is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tampa.
2025-04-29 10:24715 view
2025-04-29 10:192811 view
2025-04-29 09:09555 view
2025-04-29 08:30916 view
2025-04-29 08:121788 view
2025-04-29 07:51138 view
Wakanda is mourning the loss of a legend.Connie Chiume, who starred in Black Panther and Black Panth
We independently selected these deals and products because we love them, and we think you might like
DERRY, N.H. (AP) — A judge has fined the New Hampshire publisher of a weekly community newspaper $62