Full Trial Audio: Ballerina Murder Trial - FL v. Ashley Benefield

On Sept. 27, 2020, a man in the 11300 block of White Rock Terrace in Lakewood Ranch dialed 911 after his neighbor, Ashley Benefield, ran to his house shouting for help. Benefield, then 28, said her husband attacked her and she shot him in self-defense, the Bradenton Herald previously reported. Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said they found Doug Benefield with gunshot wounds in his right leg, right arm and right chest area. He died at a local hospital later that night. Detectives said at the time they found “no evidence that” Ashley Benefield “was acting in self-defense when she fired multiple shots at her husband.”The couple had been separated and were in the middle of a custody battle over their then 2-year-old daughter, according to court documents. A little more than a month after the shooting, the sheriff’s office arrested Ashley Benefield and charged her with second-degree murder. This is the full audio from her trial starting in July 2024, with large portions of si