Blaise Taylor was found guilty Wednesday, July 1, on four counts in the deaths of Jade Benning and her unborn child. The verdict ended an eight-day trial and moved the case into the punishment phase, with the district attorney’s office seeking life in prison without parole.
Benning was 25 and died on March 6, 2023, her birthday. The jury convicted Taylor, 30, of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one count of premeditated first-degree murder tied to the unborn child.
Taylor in the courtroom
Taylor pleaded not guilty to the two first-degree murder counts and did not testify. Closing arguments began Tuesday afternoon and finished Wednesday morning before the jury returned its verdict later that day.
Jade Benning accused Blaise Taylor of spiking her drink before her death, and prosecutors said she told Nigeya Jackson, "I know you put something in my drink" and "You did this." The state alleged Taylor laced Benning’s pink lemonade with cocaine dissolved in alcohol.
Medical examiner dispute
The defense centered on the medical examiner’s finding that the manner of death was undetermined. That left the jury to weigh whether the prosecution’s theory fit the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt even without a clean medical classification.
Prosecutors also said Taylor was responsible for felony murder in both deaths. The unborn girl died on Feb. 2, and the jury’s four-count verdict covered both the mother and the child in a case that had already stretched through eight days of testimony and argument.
April 2024 bond conditions
Taylor bonded out of jail in April 2024 after bond was set at $2,500,000, and he is required to wear a GPS monitor. The verdict now places him in line for a sentence that could keep him imprisoned for life without parole if the court follows the punishment sought by the district attorney’s office.
The remaining issue is the sentence itself. After a July 1 guilty verdict on four counts, the case has shifted from whether Taylor would be held responsible to how the court will punish him for the deaths of Jade Benning and her unborn child.
