“It was a flawed trial of a tenuous case, and we will appeal and look forward to doing so,” Letitia Quinones-Hollins, Taylor’s attorney, said after the sentencing
Credit: Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; Jade Benning/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- Blaise Taylor was sentenced to two life terms plus 22 years for killing his girlfriend Jade Benning and her unborn child
- Prosecutors accused Taylor of spiking Benning’s drink with cocaine to prevent her from giving birth
- Taylor’s attorney plans to appeal, calling the trial “flawed” and Taylor’s sentence “harsh”
Blaise Taylor has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Taylor was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, plus 22 years in prison, for the murder of Benning and her unborn child, according to WSMV.
The former college football player and Tennessee Titans scout was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in Benning’s death, and first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder during the commission of a felony in the death of their unborn child in July.
Credit: Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty
“We are extremely disappointed but not surprised by the harsh sentence,” Letitia Quinones-Hollins, Taylor’s attorney, said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “It was a flawed trial of a tenuous case, and we will appeal and look forward to doing so.”
At his sentencing, Nashville Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman said that Taylor had submitted 87 character witness letters to the court, The Athletic reported.
Credit: Jade Benning/Facebook
“The person described in these character letters, the authors themselves, not one mentioned Jade Benning, not one of them mentioned baby Ivy, and not one single letter out of the 87 letters mentioned anything about what Blaise Taylor did,” Norman said, according to the outlet.
On Feb. 25, 2023, Taylor called 911 seeking for medical assistance for his girlfriend, who was five months pregnant at the time, and he said she was having an allergic reaction. Benning’s unborn child died two days later, according to WZTV and WKRN. Benning died shortly after, on her 25th birthday on March 6, 2023.
Medical examiners testified during Taylor’s trial that her cause of death was a fatal combination of a large amount of cocaine dissolved in alcohol.
Credit: John Amis-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn
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During Taylor’s June 2026 trial, prosecutors claimed he spiked pink lemonade with a mixture of cocaine dissolved in alcohol because he didn’t want her to give birth to her child, which was believed to be his, according to WZTV.
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