A Florida former ballerina is accused of murdering her husband. She insists it was self-defense.
Ex-ballerina on trial in Florida for the second-degree murder of estranged husband, alleged fatal shooting during a contentious custody battle.
A former ballerina charged with second-degree murder in the death of her estranged husband is on trial in Florida, with prosecutors alleging that she fatally shot him during a contentious custody battle that she insisted on winning “at all costs.”
But in tearful testimony Friday, Ashley Benefield, 33, described herself as a victim of persistent abuse who acted in self-defense when she fatally shot Doug Benefield, 58, in her home south of Tampa on Sept. 27, 2020.
“I was scared to death,” she testified. “I thought he was going to kill me.”
Here’s what you need to know about the case.
The couple met at a political event in August 2016 and married 13 days later, according to the prosecutor in the case, Suzanne O’Donnell, assistant state attorney for Florida’s 12th Judicial District.
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