NASHVILLE, TN — A Davidson County judge sentenced former Tennessee Titans scout Blaise Taylor, 30, to two consecutive life terms Wednesday for the 2023 murders of his pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning, and their unborn daughter, Ivy, effectively ensuring he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The sentencing, held at a Nashville courthouse, closed a legal process that began with Benning’s death on March 6, 2023 — her 25th birthday — and stretched through a 10-day murder trial this past summer. A jury deliberated for fewer than two hours in July before unanimously convicting Taylor on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder. Prosecutors argued throughout the trial that Taylor intentionally poisoned Benning because he did not want to become a father. The judge ordered the life sentences to run consecutively, meaning Taylor would need to serve approximately 102 years before any possibility of release. His defense team has announced plans to appeal.
The crime unfolded on the evening of Feb. 25, 2023, when Taylor went to Benning’s Nashville apartment, ostensibly to paint canvases for their unborn daughter’s nursery. Benning was five months — 24 weeks — pregnant at the time. Prosecutors told the jury that Taylor dissolved a lethal dose of cocaine into Benning’s drink that night. Shortly after consuming it, Benning called her childhood best friend, Nijaiha Jackson, from her apartment. Jackson testified during the trial that she heard Benning confronting Taylor directly. “She immediately starts saying, ‘What did you do? What did you put in my drink?'” Jackson recalled on the stand, describing how Benning told Taylor her drink had tasted strange. According to Jackson’s testimony, the last words she heard from Benning were: “You did this so something would happen to the baby.” Taylor then called 911 himself, telling the emergency dispatcher that he believed Benning was suffering from an allergic reaction. On that same call, however, he acknowledged she was not showing any typical allergy symptoms — no rash, hives, redness, or swelling. By the time paramedics transported Benning to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she was clinically unresponsive.
Toxicology results from Vanderbilt determined that Benning had an extremely high concentration of cocaine in her system and had died of acute cocaine toxicity. Those findings directly contradicted Taylor’s allergic reaction account and converted the investigation into a homicide case, prosecutors said. Benning’s unborn daughter, whom she had planned to name Ivy, died two days after the poisoning, on Feb. 27, 2023. Benning herself remained on life support for more than a week before passing away on March 6, 2023 — the day she turned 25. Taylor was arrested on March 14, 2024, nearly a year after the crime. He pleaded not guilty. During the trial, additional testimony revealed that a former girlfriend of Taylor’s told investigators he had once discussed slipping an abortion pill into another woman’s drink, a detail prosecutors used to establish a pattern of intent. The jury’s guilty verdicts covered one count of second-degree murder in connection with Benning’s death, one count of first-degree murder for the death of the unborn child, and two counts of first-degree felony murder.
Taylor’s path from college football to the NFL front office made the case widely followed beyond Nashville. He played defensive back at Arkansas State University from 2014 through 2017, serving as a team captain and earning first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors during his senior season. He joined the Tennessee Titans’ scouting department in 2019 and remained there until 2023, when he transitioned to a position as a senior defensive analyst at Utah State. He spent one year at Utah State before accepting a defensive analyst role at Texas A&M. That hiring was publicly reported in early 2024, but Taylor was arrested less than a week after the announcement, before he could begin the job. At Wednesday’s sentencing, in addition to the two consecutive life terms, the judge imposed a 22-year sentence at 100 percent service on the second-degree murder count, which was merged with one of the other counts rather than added on top of the life sentences.
The sentencing hearing began around 9 a.m. and included victim impact statements from Benning’s family. Her mother, Bridget Benning Burks, addressed the court and described the particular anguish of knowing her daughter had been aware, in her final moments, that something was terribly wrong. “What haunts me most is knowing Jade was aware something was wrong,” Benning Burks said. “She knew she was losing control of her body, and before help arrived, she knew something terrible had been done to her and her baby. What makes the loss even harder to bear is that Jade believed she was safe. She trusted the person responsible.” Benning Burks added that she still grieves not only her daughter but also the granddaughter she never got to meet. Benning’s father, Dennis Browning, spoke to reporters after the sentence was handed down and said the outcome brought his family some peace, though not the closure they had truly wanted. “It brings closure to the situation, but it doesn’t bring her back,” Browning said. “We’re just happy justice was served more than anything.” Browning said the family intends to establish a scholarship in Jade Benning’s name and is focused on preserving her memory going forward.
The defense submitted 87 character letters on Taylor’s behalf, written by former teammates, coaches, friends, and other associates. Nashville Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman addressed those letters directly before the judge issued the sentence. “Your honor, the defense just submitted 87 letters all speaking to Mr. Taylor’s character,” Norman said in court. “They describe a man of honor, honesty, a man of great accomplishments and as someone who has faith in the Lord and was raised by a strong family. More than one of the authors of those letters actually stated he is someone they would want their own daughters to marry. 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.” Taylor’s defense attorney, Letitia Quinones-Hollins, issued a written statement after the sentence was imposed, calling the trial flawed. “We are extremely disappointed but not surprised by the harsh sentence,” Quinones-Hollins said. “This was a flawed trial of a tenuous case, and we will appeal and look forward to doing so.”
Taylor is currently in state custody following the sentencing. His legal team’s announced appeal will move through the Tennessee appellate court system, though no hearing date has been set. Unless an appellate court overturns or modifies the conviction, Taylor — who would need to serve roughly 102 years before becoming eligible for release under the consecutive life terms — is expected to remain incarcerated for the rest of his life. Benning’s family, meanwhile, plans to move forward with a scholarship established in her name as a lasting tribute to her memory and that of her unborn daughter, Ivy.
