A Nashville jury has convicted former Tennessee Titans scout and ex-Arkansas State defensive back Blaise Taylor in the 2023 poisoning death of his pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning, and their unborn child.
Jurors found Taylor guilty on one count of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree felony murder after deliberating for just over two hours on Wednesday. Taylor had pleaded not guilty. The panel then unanimously sentenced him to life in prison, with at least 51 years to be served before he can be considered for parole.
Prosecutors said Taylor, 30, poisoned Benning on Feb. 25, 2023, by putting a fatal dose of cocaine into her drink. Benning was five months pregnant at the time, according to police. The state’s case centered on the claim that Taylor did not want her to keep the baby, while Benning refused to have an abortion.
Benning’s unborn child died two days later, on Feb. 27.
Benning died on March 6 from acute cocaine poisoning, which was also her 25th birthday. She never had a chance to speak with investigators before her death.
Testimony from one of Benning’s friends, Nijaiha Deshay Jackson, added a chilling piece to the case. Jackson said Benning called her the night she was poisoned and repeatedly accused Taylor of putting something in her drink.
“‘I knew my drink tasted funny. I know you put something in my drink because I can’t even walk,’” Jackson recalled Benning saying. “She said, ‘You did this so something could happen to the baby.’”
After the conviction, Taylor’s attorney, Joshua Brand, urged the jury to consider leniency.
“You don’t have to give him life without the possibility of parole,” Brand said. “… You can give him the opportunity to try for rehabilitation.
You can give him the opportunity to work hard in prison. He’s not going anywhere.”
Brand was not available for comment.
Taylor’s football background stretches from Arkansas State, where he played from 2014 through 2017, to the NFL and beyond. He was a team captain and first-team All-Sun Belt defender for the Red Wolves, then went on to work in the Titans’ scouting department until 2023.
After that, he took a job at Utah State as a senior defensive analyst, spent one year there, and then accepted a defensive analyst position at Texas A&M. He was arrested less than a week after that hiring was first reported.
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