Current:Home > ContactBlack Swan Trial: TikToker Eva Benefield Reacts After Stepmom Is Found Guilty of Killing Her Dad -MoneyMatrix
Black Swan Trial: TikToker Eva Benefield Reacts After Stepmom Is Found Guilty of Killing Her Dad
View
Date:2025-04-18 15:04:44
Ashley Benefield's murder trial is approaching its finale.
The former ballerina, accused of killing her estranged husband Doug Benefield in 2020, was found guilty of manslaughter in a Florida courtroom July 30.
While the 33-year-old—who claimed she shot Doug, 58, in self-defense—had previously been charged with second-degree murder, a jury convicted her of the "lesser crime," according to NBC News.
A sentencing date for Ashley—whose case has been called the "Black Swan murder trial" after Natalie Portman's 2010 ballerina thriller Black Swan—has yet to be announced.
After the verdict, Doug's family, including daughter Eva Benefield who's been documenting the case for her nearly 500,000 TikTok followers, shared their reactions.
"She was convicted of manslaughter after four years of waiting," Eva, who testified during the trial, said in a July 30 video. "My dad got the justice that he deserves."
"I will be talking more about the trial once I have my thoughts collected," she continued. "I have a lot of things that I want to say."
As Eva, 23, stated in her testimony, she first learned about Ashley's relationship with her father in August 2016, about nine months after the death of her mom Renee.
Eva, a teenager at the time, soon discovered that they were already married. (Ashley and Doug tied the knot 13 days after meeting at a political event.)
While on the stand, Eva described her relationship with Ashley as "friendly at first."
"Over time, she tried to reprimand me a little bit more and kind of step into a motherly role," she explained. "And I did not like that because it was so short after my mother passed away."
Eva testified that Ashley would go to her dad and tell him that she wasn't obeying.
"Usually, they were overreactions over small things," Eva said of Ashley's behavior toward her. And when it came to Ashley's behavior towards Doug, Eva testified she heard her stepmom "strongly voice her opinions over and over and over again."
"It was on a regular basis," Eva added, stating that her dad would "sit quietly and listen" to Ashley and she never saw them verbally or physically fight.
However, Ashley alleged Doug was abusive during their marriage, testifying that she was fearful for her safety at the time of the September 2020 shooting.
Though prosecutors swiftly denied Ashley's claims, citing the estranged couple's custody battle over their daughter Emerson, 6, as a motive for the fatal shooting.
"This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother," prosecutor Suzanne O'Donnell said in court, per ABC News. "Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense."
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
veryGood! (1)
Related
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- King Charles III Out of Hospital After Corrective Procedure
- Look what the Chiefs made airlines do: New flight numbers offered for Super Bowl
- Michigan man charged with threatening to hang Biden, Harris and bomb Washington D.C.
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Could Super Bowl 58 be 'The Lucky One' for Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs?
- Albania’s Constitutional Court says migration deal with Italy can go ahead if approved
- How a yoga ad caught cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson's killer, Kaitlin Armstrong
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Mystery surrounding 3 Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead outside man's home leads to accusations from victim's family
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- Could Super Bowl 58 be 'The Lucky One' for Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs?
- China sees two ‘bowls of poison’ in Biden and Trump and ponders who is the lesser of two evils
- 2 Democratic-leaning Michigan House districts to hold special election primaries
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Priceless painting stolen by New Jersey mobsters in 1969 is found and returned to owner's 96-year-old son
- Joan Collins Reveals What Makes 5th Marriage Her Most Successful
- Outgoing leader says US safety agency has the people and expertise to regulate high-tech vehicles
Recommendation
A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
Kishida says he’s determined to break Japan’s ruling party from its practice of money politics
Millions urgently need food in Ethiopia’s Tigray region despite the resumption of aid deliveries
Priceless painting stolen by New Jersey mobsters in 1969 is found and returned to owner's 96-year-old son
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
Horoscopes Today, January 28, 2024
Undetermined number of hacked-up bodies found in vehicles on Mexico’s Gulf coast
Bonus: Janet Yellen on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!