Jade Benning accused Blaise Taylor of putting something in her drink after she became violently ill at a February 2024 dinner, according to testimony on Wednesday in the Blaise Taylor trial. The account came from her close friend Nijaiha Jackson and added a direct eyewitness version to the case over Benning’s death and her unborn daughter.
Jackson Recounts Benning's Accusation
Jackson told jurors that Benning vomited and lost her ability to walk before saying, “She was like, 'I know you put something in my drink. I knew my drink tasted funny,'” Taylor then became part of the emergency response timeline, because prosecutors played a 911 call in which he said, “I don't know. I think she's having an allergic reaction,” and later added, “... She's not responding.”
That sequence matters because it places Benning’s accusation before she was hospitalized and before her death on March 6, 2024, her 25th birthday. Prosecutors say those words were among her final statements, and they are treating them as evidence that she identified Taylor at the scene rather than after the fact.
Olushoga's Hospital Testimony
Dr. Michael Olushoga testified that Benning arrived at the hospital with “All clinical signs pointing that she was dead,” a blunt description that fits the prosecution’s claim that the collapse was already medically catastrophic by the time she reached care. Medical examiners said she died from the effects of a fatal combination of a large amount of cocaine dissolved in alcohol.
Prosecutors allege Taylor spiked Benning’s pink lemonade with that mixture because he did not want her to have the child, believed to be his. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Benning and her unborn daughter, and his defense is pushing the opposite story: that she died from an overdose tied to her own drug use rather than intentional poisoning.
Franklin's Frustration
Stephanie Franklin told jurors she and Benning’s mother were angry at how the case was handled early on, saying, “We were angry. Didn't seem like anybody was doing anything,” and, “No answers. Why do you have a child on life support? No answers.” Her testimony gives the jury the family’s view of the gap between Benning’s collapse and the explanations they say they received.
Benning’s unborn girl died on Feb. 27, and the trial now turns on whether jurors believe the drink was deliberately altered or whether the defense can convince them the death came from substance use instead. Jackson’s testimony is the sharper piece of evidence so far because it ties the alleged poisoning to Benning’s own words, not just to the later medical findings.
