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Former NFL scout gets two life sentences for murdering girlfriend and preborn baby
Blaise Taylor, a former college football star and NFL scout for the Tennessee Titans, has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for killing his pregnant girlfriend and her preborn child in 2023.
Blaise Taylor murdered his girlfriend, Jade Benning, in 2023, by poisoning her with cocaine.
Benning, who was five months pregnant at the time, delivered prematurely. Her daughter, Ivy, also died.
In July, Taylor was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Benning's death, and first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Ivy's death.
He was sentenced on September 9 to two life terms, plus an additional 22 years in prison.
Blaise Taylor began dating Jade Benning in 2022. When Benning became pregnant, Taylor pressured her to abort the baby, but she refused.
"I'm going to tell him today that I'm not having the abortion… so he can just get it out of his head," Benning wrote in a text message to a friend.
The couple eventually split up, but Taylor asked Benning to reconcile in early 2023.
On February 25, Taylor called 911 with a report that Benning had suffered an allergic reaction and needed medical assistance. She was five months pregnant at the time. She was rushed to the hospital where her daughter, Ivy, was delivered prematurely. Ivy died two days later, while Benning died on March 6, 2023 — her 25th birthday.
On the night she fell ill, Benning had called a friend, Nijaiha Jackson. Over the phone, Jackson could hear Benning accuse Taylor of putting something in her drink to poison her. By the time Jackson raced to Benning's home, Benning was unconscious.
“She immediately starts saying, ‘What did you do? What did you put in my drink?’ Then I heard her say, ‘Blaise, you’re scaring me,’” Jackson testified during the trial. “He said, ‘You’re scaring me.’ And she was like, ‘I know you put something in my drink. … I knew my drink tasted funny. … You did this so something would happen to the baby.’”
Investigators later determined that Taylor had poisoned Benning with a high amount of cocaine in her lemonade. During the trial, medical examiner Erin Carney testified that the level of cocaine in Benning's system was far higher than anything she had seen before.
"I could not recall anything this high," Carney said. "The circumstances surrounding [Benning's] ingestion of cocaine were very concerning, that she ingested this unknowingly. Acute cocaine toxicity caused Miss Benning to die."
In July, Taylor was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Benning's death, and first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in the death of their unborn child.
On September 9, he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, plus an additional 22 years, for killing Benning and her child. Letitia Quinones-Hollins, Taylor’s attorney, said she plans to appeal the sentence.
“We are extremely disappointed but not surprised by the harsh sentence,” she told PEOPLE. “It was a flawed trial of a tenuous case, and we will appeal and look forward to doing so.”
Homicide is a leading cause of death among pregnant women. According to researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, women in the U.S. who are pregnant or who have recently given birth are more likely to die by homicide than to die from obstetric causes.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
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·Pop Culture·By Bridget Sielicki
Former NFL scout gets two life sentences for murdering girlfriend and preborn baby
Blaise Taylor, a former college football star and NFL scout for the Tennessee Titans, has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for killing his pregnant girlfriend and her preborn child in 2023.
Blaise Taylor murdered his girlfriend, Jade Benning, in 2023, by poisoning her with cocaine.
Benning, who was five months pregnant at the time, delivered prematurely. Her daughter, Ivy, also died.
In July, Taylor was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Benning's death, and first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Ivy's death.
He was sentenced on September 9 to two life terms, plus an additional 22 years in prison.
Blaise Taylor began dating Jade Benning in 2022. When Benning became pregnant, Taylor pressured her to abort the baby, but she refused.
"I'm going to tell him today that I'm not having the abortion… so he can just get it out of his head," Benning wrote in a text message to a friend.
The couple eventually split up, but Taylor asked Benning to reconcile in early 2023.
On February 25, Taylor called 911 with a report that Benning had suffered an allergic reaction and needed medical assistance. She was five months pregnant at the time. She was rushed to the hospital where her daughter, Ivy, was delivered prematurely. Ivy died two days later, while Benning died on March 6, 2023 — her 25th birthday.
On the night she fell ill, Benning had called a friend, Nijaiha Jackson. Over the phone, Jackson could hear Benning accuse Taylor of putting something in her drink to poison her. By the time Jackson raced to Benning's home, Benning was unconscious.
“She immediately starts saying, ‘What did you do? What did you put in my drink?’ Then I heard her say, ‘Blaise, you’re scaring me,’” Jackson testified during the trial. “He said, ‘You’re scaring me.’ And she was like, ‘I know you put something in my drink. … I knew my drink tasted funny. … You did this so something would happen to the baby.’”
Investigators later determined that Taylor had poisoned Benning with a high amount of cocaine in her lemonade. During the trial, medical examiner Erin Carney testified that the level of cocaine in Benning's system was far higher than anything she had seen before.
"I could not recall anything this high," Carney said. "The circumstances surrounding [Benning's] ingestion of cocaine were very concerning, that she ingested this unknowingly. Acute cocaine toxicity caused Miss Benning to die."
In July, Taylor was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Benning's death, and first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in the death of their unborn child.
On September 9, he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, plus an additional 22 years, for killing Benning and her child. Letitia Quinones-Hollins, Taylor’s attorney, said she plans to appeal the sentence.
“We are extremely disappointed but not surprised by the harsh sentence,” she told PEOPLE. “It was a flawed trial of a tenuous case, and we will appeal and look forward to doing so.”
Homicide is a leading cause of death among pregnant women. According to researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, women in the U.S. who are pregnant or who have recently given birth are more likely to die by homicide than to die from obstetric causes.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Bridget Sielicki
·Pop Culture
Bridget Sielicki
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Cassy Cooke
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Bridget Sielicki
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