A former ballerina has been found guilty of fatally shooting her estranged husband four years ago.
On the evening of July 30, 2024, Ashley Benefield, a 33-year-old woman from Florida, was convicted of the murder of Douglas Doug Benefield, which occurred in 2020. This verdict followed seven hours of deliberation by a jury in Manatee County, as reported by the Fox Tampa Bay affiliate WTVT.

Although the mother of one claimed that she acted in self-defense, she was initially charged with second-degree murder but was ultimately convicted of lesser charges of manslaughter.

Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell, representing Florida’s 12th District, argued that Ashley did not kill her husband for self-protection but rather to gain an advantage in an ongoing custody dispute regarding their young daughter, according to NBC News.

This was a custody battle that this mother was determined to win at any cost, O’Donnell stated during her opening remarks. The cost was the life of Doug Benefield, and that constitutes murder.
Ashley Benefield now faces 15 years in prison.

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