SARASOTA, Fla. – A former ballet dancer was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for the shooting death of her estranged husband at her Florida home in 2020.
The sentencing came about four months after a six-judge jury found Ashley Benefield, 32, guilty of manslaughter. Benefield was initially charged with second-degree murder, but jurors chose the lesser charge of manslaughter after about seven hours of deliberation.
Although Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Matt Whyte said he believed Benefield was under extreme duress and showed remorse for the Sept. 27, 2020 shooting, he did not grant her a reduced sentence. Her lawyer, Neil Taylor, said he would appeal the decision.
Taylor argued his client acted in self-defense when she fatally shot her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, 58, after a tumultuous and violent relationship that spanned four years. The shooting occurred during an argument at Ashley Benefield’s home in Lakewood Ranch, a master-planned community northeast of Sarasota, Florida.
A probable cause affidavit said a neighbor called police when Ashley Benefield, who appeared distraught, was banging on his door moments after the shooting, still holding a gun.
Ashley Benefield showed no apparent emotion during Tuesday’s sentencing. As Whyte announced his decision, a comforting arm went around Eva Benefield, Doug’s eldest daughter from a previous marriage, as she sat on the left side of the gallery surrounded by her late father’s family and supporters.
Whyte also gave the former ballerina a 10-year suspended sentence following her prison term. Within 60 days of the start of probation, Ashley Benefield will be required to obtain a mental health evaluation and complete any recommended treatment. Whyte ordered that Ashley Benefield must also forfeit the gun used in the shooting.
“I think both sides … talked about lenses and perspectives,” Whyte said. “And I think this is a perfect example of how no matter what lens you look at this case from, it can really affect how you look at the players, the results, the participants and the outcome.”
“It was murder”: Husband charged in missing Virginia woman case
A stormy relationship
Ashley and Doug Benefield met in 2016 and married 13 days later after a whirlwind romance. She was 24 and he was 54, according to media reports at the time.
During the early years of their marriage, the two founded the American National Ballet, but the company collapsed before it could get off the ground, according to testimony during the trial. Ashley Benefield is a graduate of the Maryland Youth Ballet.
During their marriage, the couple experienced a tumultuous relationship that included allegations of domestic violence against Doug Benefield, marriage counseling and a series of lawsuits in both South Carolina and Florida — where Ashley Benefield moved to be with her mother after becoming pregnant in 2017.
Ashley Benefield argued the case should be thrown out based on Florida’s “Stand your ground” law. In her motion to dismiss the case, she claimed her husband was abusive and volatile, regularly carried a loaded gun and once fired a gun into the ceiling in their kitchen to intimidate her.
What led to the shooting in 2020?
On the afternoon of September 27, 2020, Doug Benefield arrived at the Lakewood Ranch home with a U-Haul truck to help pack for the move to Maryland. Doug Benefield appeared to be under the impression that he, his wife and daughter would move in together even though he would be living separately, according to court documents and previous testimony.
Taylor told jurors that frustration grew as the couple packed and escalated into an argument. Despite Ashley Benefield’s attempts to de-escalate, court documents say Doug Benefield became physical — checking Ashley Benefield with a box, preventing her from leaving the room and following her into the bedroom, where she grabbed a gun.
As Doug Benefield allegedly advanced toward her, Ashley Benefield fired a gun, according to court documents.
Witnesses outside the home told investigators they heard about six gunshots and about 30 seconds later saw Ashley Benefield run from the house to a neighbor’s house with the gun still in her hand, screaming and crying.
The family tries to focus the statements on the positive qualities of Doug Benefield
Outside the Manatee County Judicial Center, Tommie and Eva Benefield stopped to talk to reporters.
“The verdict means we finally know what it’s going to cost her, as opposed to what it cost their daughter Ashley and Doug’s daughter (and) what it cost Eva every day of her life,” said Tommie Benefield, Doug Benefield’s cousin. .
He added that the sentencing was a good step towards making Ashley Benefield pay the price. Tommie Benefield said his family and the prosecution will fight hard to keep Ashley Benefield in jail during the appeals process because they believe she is a flight risk.
Tears filled Eva Benefield’s eyes as she stood outside the justice center. Her dark brown plaid jacket featured two red hearts – one sewn on the left side under the heart, the other sewn on the back on the right side.
According to her, the hearts were a symbol of the place where her father was shot.
Earlier in the courtroom, Eva Benefield recalled her memories of her loving father: how they both looked forward to Valentine’s dinner, the good morning texts with Bible verses she’d wake up to from her father, his efforts to participate in all her extracurricular activities . and his driving an hour out of the way to make coffee for her and her friends.
Eva Benefield said her father was always on the phone or text away, and would always answer the phone if she called, especially after her mother’s death. He knew how nervous Eva would be if he didn’t pick up.
“I watched my father paint over every memory and in every corner of that house, changing the furniture, ridding the house of every piece of my mother that was left so that you could enjoy life without the remains of my father’s late wife and soulmate,” Eva. Benefield said. “I had to come home from school to see you barely dressed sitting on the counters where my mom cooked our family dinner. I had to live in a house stripped of the memories I still cling to so I could remember the happy the childhood my parents gave me.”
Doug Benefield’s brother Wes Benefield offered forgiveness to Ashley Benefield, adding that he hates her.
The defense moves downward
Taylor tried to have his client sentenced down, but Whyte refused. Taylor urged Whyte to focus on Doug Benefield’s deposition testimony, which established a prior history of domestic violence, and a letter Ashley Benefield left three years ago for her husband when she left him to move to Florida.
While Whyte said Taylor proved that Doug Benefield was the instigator, willing participant, aggressor or instigator of the incident, he did not find it appropriate to go downwards.
The only witness Taylor called to testify in court Tuesday was Dr. Barbara Russell, a clinical social worker and mental health professional who evaluated both Doug and Ashley Benefield before the shooting.
Russell told the judge that Ashley Benefield suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was caused by complex trauma, the main cause of which was an “abusive relationship with Douglas Benefield, from the beginning of the abuse in their marriage to the assault incident. which started shooting on September 27.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell, the lead prosecutor in the case, pointed out to Russell that Ashley Benefield had also been diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder, a mental health condition that leads people to act out in dramatic and emotional ways to get attention .
Russell said she was aware of the “false diagnosis” and explained that women who are victims of intimate partner violence are often mischaracterized as suffering from the disorder, especially if the person assessing them does not properly understand the full picture.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com or X: @GabrielaSzyman3.
This article originally appeared on the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Ex-ballerina sentenced to 20 years in death of estranged husband