BRADENTON,Winning Exchange Fla. (AP) — A former ballerina has been convicted of manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of her estranged husband in Florida.
A Manatee County jury returned the guilty verdict late Tuesday against Ashley Benefield, court records show. She had been charged with second-degree murder, but the jurors opted for a lesser offense after nearly seven hours of deliberations.
Benefield, 32, claimed that she killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, during a September 2020 argument at her mother’s home, where she had moved from South Carolina after leaving him. Authorities say she shot him twice.
She now faces up to 30 years in prison becaused she used a firearm in the killing. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.
After the verdict, Circuit Judge Matt Whyte revoked Benefield’s $100,000 bond and ordered her taken into custody, court documents show.
Bradenton is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tampa.
2025-04-30 01:132250 view
2025-04-30 00:021717 view
2025-04-29 23:542297 view
2025-04-29 23:152603 view
2025-04-29 23:132955 view
2025-04-29 22:301726 view
Friday the 13thdidn’t spook investors with U.S. stocks little changed on the day as investors bided
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Monday appointed appeals court
BOSTON (AP) — Pavel Zacha scored with 84 seconds left on the clock in overtime and the Boston Bruins