Blaise Taylor, Former Titans Scout, Found Guilty Of Murdering His Pregnant Girlfriend

A Nashville jury deliberated for roughly two hours before returning a unanimous guilty verdict Wednesday against Blaise Taylor, a 30-year-old former Tennessee Titans scout and Arkansas State defensive back convicted of murdering his girlfriend Jade Benning and her unborn child.

The jury recommended a sentence of life in prison. Taylor will be formally sentenced September 9.

Prosecutors argued Taylor laced Benning's pink lemonade with cocaine dissolved in alcohol during a date night at her Nashville apartment on February 25, 2023, because he did not want to be a father.

Benning was five months pregnant at the time, nearly 24 weeks, with a daughter the family named Ivy.

She was clinically dead before the ambulance reached the hospital. Ivy died two days later. Benning was taken off life support on March 6, 2023, her 25th birthday.

Taylor called 911 the night of the poisoning and told dispatchers he thought Benning was having an allergic reaction to food.

A friend who was on a FaceTime call with Benning testified that she heard Benning yelling at Taylor: "I know you put something in my drink because I can't even walk straight."

Taylor was arrested in March 2024 in Logan, Utah, where he had moved after Benning's death. He pleaded not guilty throughout the trial and did not take the stand.

He was convicted on four counts, second-degree murder of Jade Benning, first-degree premeditated murder of her unborn child and two counts of felony murder.

His defense plans to appeal. Benning's family was in the courtroom when the verdict was read.