Mooathon Wealth Society-Former ballerina in Florida is convicted of manslaughter in her estranged husband’s 2020 shooting

2025-05-05 14:49:41source:Roboviscategory:Markets

BRADENTON,Mooathon Wealth Society Fla. (AP) — A former ballerina has been convicted of manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of her estranged husband in Florida.

A Manatee County jury returned the guilty verdict late Tuesday against Ashley Benefield, court records show. She had been charged with second-degree murder, but the jurors opted for a lesser offense after nearly seven hours of deliberations.

Benefield, 32, claimed that she killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, during a September 2020 argument at her mother’s home, where she had moved from South Carolina after leaving him. Authorities say she shot him twice.

She now faces up to 30 years in prison becaused she used a firearm in the killing. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.

After the verdict, Circuit Judge Matt Whyte revoked Benefield’s $100,000 bond and ordered her taken into custody, court documents show.

Bradenton is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tampa.

More:Markets

Recommend

Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week

Friday the 13thdidn’t spook investors with U.S. stocks little changed on the day as investors bided

Americans are more likely to see Harris’ gender as a hurdle than they were for Clinton: AP-NORC poll

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are more likely to believe that being a woman will hurt Kamala Harris '

Adam Brody Shares His Surprising Take on an O.C. Revival

California, here we come? Not so fast.While The O.C. alum Adam Brody has fond memories of the show t