Jade Benning, 24, was five months pregnant with a daughter when she became critically ill at her apartment in Nashville, Tennessee, on the evening of February 25, 2023. Her boyfriend, Blaise Taylor, called 911 and said she was having an allergic reaction, and she was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her condition quickly became critical. The unborn girl, whom she had planned to name Ivy, died on February 27, 2023. Benning died on March 6, 2023, her 25th birthday, without having been able to speak with police. A medical examiner testified that she died of acute cocaine toxicity, with an unusually high amount of cocaine in her system. A friend testified that Benning had told her by phone that evening that she believed she had been drugged.
Taylor, a former Arkansas State University football player, had worked for four years in the Tennessee Titans scouting department. After the deaths he moved to Utah, where he was working as a defensive analyst for the University of Utah when he was arrested on March 14, 2024. He was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder, returned to Tennessee and pleaded not guilty.
His trial in Davidson County began in June 2026 and was carried live nationally by Court TV. Prosecutors argued that Taylor did not want the child and that he dissolved cocaine in alcohol and put it in Benning's pink lemonade. The defense argued that Benning had died of an overdose and that Taylor was not involved.
On July 1, 2026, after deliberating for just under two hours, the jury found Taylor, then 30, guilty on all four counts: second-degree murder of Benning, first-degree premeditated murder of the unborn child, and first-degree felony murder of each. The verdict carried automatic life sentences on the first-degree counts. At a sentencing hearing on September 9, 2026, he was ordered to serve two consecutive life sentences plus 22 years. His attorney said he maintains his innocence and that the defense will appeal.
The case was prosecuted by the Nashville District Attorney's Office, with a team that included Deputy District Attorney Roger Moore and Criminal Court Division II team leader Jan Norman. Benning's family and friends thanked the office after the verdict for what they called its relentless pursuit of justice for Jade.
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