A former ballerina has been sentenced to decades in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter in the ‘Black Swan’ case.
Ashley Benefield, 33, was seen staring at the ground as her sentence was read out to her.
The ballerina was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison and 10 years of probation after being convicted of manslaughter in July. She has 30 days to appeal her sentence.
She shot and killed her husband, Doug Benefield, 58, at her Florida home on September 27, 2020.
During her trial, Ashley took the stand to tell her side of the story, giving a tearful account of her tumultuous relationship with Doug, which she alleged involved abuse leading up to the fatal shooting.
Benefield claimed her husband had violent tendencies during the four years they were married, but they stopped living together after she became pregnant with his child in 2017.
The dancer said Doug attacked her in her home and she had to shoot him in self-defense.
‘I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me. I didn’t know where to go. I was trapped,” she said during her trial.
Ashley Benefield, 33, was seen staring at the ground as her sentence was read out. The ballerina was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison and 10 years of probation after being convicted of manslaughter in July
During her trial, Ashley took the stand to tell her side of the story, tearfully recounting her tumultuous relationship with Doug, which she said included instances of abuse leading up to the fatal shooting.
“I just held the gun in front of me and I said stop, and he turned around and he almost got into a fighting stance. He started moving his arms and hands around… he came over and lunged at me, and I just pulled the trigger.”
However, prosecutors said the altercation occurred after she tried to win a custody battle and wanted to win at all costs.
Prosecutors also pointed out that Doug was not armed the night of his death.
‘Because what does she get after she kills him? Sole custody of the child, and that is murder,” Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell said.
Benefield previously sought court orders that would have barred her husband from seeing their child and accused him of violating a restraining order in 2018, according to NBC News.
She accused Doug of child abuse in 2020, but he was not charged with any crimes.
She married her husband at the age of 24, after only knowing him for two weeks. His wife had died nine months earlier, when he was 54.
Their rocky marriage included Benefield accusing him of poisoning his first wife before leaving him during pregnancy, attempting to start a ballerina company and ultimately ending in his death.
She has 30 days to appeal her sentence
Former members of their dance studio said Doug had an “evil side.”
Two former members of the American National Ballet — the Charleston, South Carolina-based dance company the couple opened in 2017 — have revealed that Doug had a “very angry side.”
Hanna Manka and Sarah Walborn spoke about their experiences at the then-groundbreaking dance school in a recent Law & Crime podcast “Black Swan Murder” episode and revealed that Doug, the father of Ashely’s daughter, often raised his voice.
“Doug came out with a very angry side – this was the first time I’d seen him angry,” Walborn said, recalling a previous interaction with him.
“And at the time I thought it was strange that he was so passionate about this conversation that was being had. And it painted a picture of the future encounters I would have with him along the way.”
Manka said she sensed something was wrong when she arrived at the theater the company would use for its planned gala performance and saw no advertising for the debut event.
‘Absolutely nothing on the agenda. That’s a little strange,” Manka said.
Walborn agreed with that idea, saying the studio was full of “a lot of charades” with no “ultimate goal.”
The pair started a ballerina business together, but many former employees said it was sketchy and that Doug had an ‘evil side’
She added that Doug often tried to paint a different picture and even made a video full of “a lot of inspirational quotes from people” to show to the dancers.
“He had us all sitting in the room…to look at it and…had tears in his eyes…and said, ‘Look, this is what we’re working towards,'” Walborn explained.
Other former employees said they were suspicious of the couple’s business from the start.
Sophie Williams, who was 20 years old at the time, told DailyMail.com that she distrusted the business early on, especially when it came to getting paid.
She remembers a time standing outside a small hallway next to other American National Ballet dancers in alphabetical order, waiting for their names to be called.
No one was told why they had to gather there, only that there was a chance to finally receive a paycheck.
When Williams, now 27, was called into the small office in Charleston, South Carolina, she came face to face with a strange sight.
Doug was sitting behind a suitcase full of hundred dollar bills.
At his command she sat down.
Williams said, “He just started counting down hundreds of stacks.”
Doug told Williams that the money was for all the things the company had promised the dancers but never delivered: health insurance, pointe shoes, travel expenses and her total salary.
She walked out of the office almost $5,000 richer. But the exchange made her feel even more uncomfortable about what was happening within the dance company.