Black Swan ballerina Ashley Benefield’s cold reaction as she’s sentenced for murdering husband: ‘Her face says it all’
A former ballerina has been sentenced to decades in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter in the ‘Black Swan’ case.
Ashley Benefield, 33, was seen staring at the ground as her sentence was read out to her.
The ballerina was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison and 10 years of probation after being convicted of manslaughter in July. She has 30 days to appeal her sentence.
She shot and killed her husband, Doug Benefield, 58, at her Florida home on September 27, 2020.
During her trial, Ashley took the stand to tell her side of the story, giving a tearful account of her tumultuous relationship with Doug, which she alleged involved abuse leading up to the fatal shooting.
Benefield claimed her husband had violent tendencies during the four years they were married, but they stopped living together after she became pregnant with his child in 2017.
Ashley Benefield, 33, was seen staring at the ground as her sentence was read out. The ballerina was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison and 10 years of probation after being convicted of manslaughter in July
She has 30 days to appeal her sentence
During her trial, Ashley took the stand to tell her side of the story, tearfully recounting her tumultuous relationship with Doug, which she said included instances of abuse leading up to the fatal shooting.
The dancer said Doug attacked her in her home and she had to shoot him in self-defense.
‘I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me. I didn’t know where to go. I was trapped,” she said during her trial.
“I just held the gun in front of me and I said stop, and he turned around and he almost got into a fighting stance. He started moving his arms and hands around… he came over and lunged at me, and I just pulled the trigger.”
However, prosecutors said the altercation occurred after she tried to win a custody battle and wanted to win at all costs.
Prosecutors also pointed out that Doug was not armed the night of his death.
‘Because what does she get after she kills him? Sole custody of the child, and that is murder,” Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell said.
Benefield previously sought court orders that would have barred her husband from seeing their child and accused him of violating a restraining order in 2018, according to NBC News.
She accused Doug of child abuse in 2020, but he was not charged with any crimes.
She married her husband at the age of 24, after only knowing him for two weeks. His wife had died nine months earlier, when he was 54.
Their rocky marriage included Benefield accusing him of poisoning his first wife before leaving him during pregnancy, attempting to start a ballerina company and ultimately ending in his death.
Former members of their dance studio said Doug had an “evil side.”
Two former members of the American National Ballet — the Charleston, South Carolina-based dance company the couple opened in 2017 — have revealed that Doug had a “very angry side.”
Hanna Manka and Sarah Walborn spoke about their experiences at the then-groundbreaking dance school in a recent Law & Crime podcast “Black Swan Murder” episode and revealed that Doug, the father of Ashely’s daughter, often raised his voice.