A Nashville jury has convicted former Tennessee Titans scout and Arkansas State defensive back Blaise Taylor in the 2023 death of his pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning, and their unborn child.
Taylor, 30, was found guilty Wednesday 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, the jury unanimously imposed a life sentence. He will have to serve at least 51 years before he can be considered for parole.
Prosecutors said Taylor intentionally poisoned Benning on Feb. 25, 2023, by putting a fatal dose of cocaine in her drink. Benning was five months pregnant at the time, and prosecutors argued Taylor did not want her to carry the baby to term because she refused to have an abortion.
Benning died of acute cocaine poisoning on March 6, her 25th birthday. The unborn fetus died two days after the poisoning, on Feb.
- Benning was unable to speak with investigators before she died.
Her friend Nijaiha Deshay Jackson testified that Benning called her the night she was poisoned and said Taylor had put 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.’”
Taylor had pleaded not guilty. After the verdict, his attorney Joshua Brand urged the jury to consider a lesser outcome.
“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 included a run at Arkansas State from 2014 through 2017, where he was a team captain and first-team All-Sun Belt defender. He later worked in the Titans’ scouting department until 2023, then left for Utah State as a senior defensive analyst. After one year there, he took a defensive analyst job at Texas A&M, but was arrested less than a week after that hiring was first reported.
In Other News...
Jaguars Camp Roster Reveals What This Quiet Offseason Was Really About
Jacksonvilles quiet offseason turns out to have been busy in a very specific way, with the team bringing 31 players onto the training camp roster and spreading those additions across just about every part of the depth chart. The mix says a lot about how the Jaguars approached the spring: 10 draft picks, 16 undrafted rookies and a handful of veteran signings, all aimed at creating competition at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, cornerback and safety.
The first wave of outside additions was especially telling, with running back Chris Rodriguez joining the group as the lone outside free-agent pickup in that initial pass. For a roster that needed to be built out without much noise, the emphasis was on volume, flexibility and giving the coaching staff as many options as possible once camp opened. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Camp Battle Could Decide How Reliable This Line Really Is
Training camp is set to put a little more clarity around one of the Jaguars most important line questions, with Patrick Mekari and Wyatt Milum expected to compete for the right guard job. Mekari arrived in free agency this year with the kind of NFL experience that usually gives a player an edge, while Milum enters his second season as a recent third-round pick with a chance to push for a starting role.
The appeal of the battle is that it may say as much about the line as it does about either player. Mekari brings a track record, but last season was uneven enough to leave room for doubt, and Milum has the profile of a young lineman who could force the issue if camp goes well. However it plays out, this is the kind of competition that could shape how dependable the Jaguars feel about the right side of their front. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Land A Win-Now Mock Draft That Changes Everything Around Trevor
A recent NFL.com mock draft took a very different approach to Jacksonvilles future, using only current NFL players and a win-now lens to map out what the roster could look like if the Jaguars were trying to accelerate the timeline around Trevor Lawrence. Chad Reuters seven-round exercise used the actual 2025 draft order with a snake format after the first round, and it gave Jacksonville an aggressive mix of help at quarterback, along the offensive line and across the skill positions.
The most eye-catching part was the way the board kept pushing proven talent toward Jacksonville, starting with Bo Nix in the first round and then layering on more immediate upgrades. The mock also had the Jaguars addressing the trenches with Creed Humphrey and adding names like Colston Loveland and Jakobi Meyers, but the pass-rush choice may be the one that really gets people talking, especially with Josh Hines-Allen already in the picture. [Read more 🡒]