Jade Benning’s – On the second day of Blaise Taylor’s murder trial, jurors heard testimony that Jade Benning accused Taylor of poisoning her moments after a February 2024 dinner. Benning later died on March 6, 2024, while her unborn daughter—planned to be named Ivy—died earlie
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The second day of Blaise Taylor’s murder trial began with a memory that still sounded urgent even in a courtroom: a close friend’s testimony that Jade Benning knew something had been put in her drink and said it aloud moments after she fell violently ill.
Jade Benning, 25, is alleged to have been poisoned after dinner with Taylor in February 2024. Prosecutors say Taylor spiked Benning’s pink lemonade with a lethal mixture of cocaine dissolved in alcohol because he did not want her to have the child. which he believed to be his. Benning died March 6, 2024, on her 25th birthday. Her unborn daughter, whom family members planned to name Ivy, died Feb. 27.
Taylor, 30, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Benning and her unborn daughter.
In testimony Wednesday, prosecutors questioned Benning’s best friend, Nijaiha Jackson, about a phone call she received from Benning shortly after Benning had dinner with Taylor. Jackson told jurors that Benning said she suddenly became severely ill—vomiting and losing her ability to walk.
While Jackson was speaking to her. Jackson testified. Benning began addressing Taylor with an accusation that she believed her drink had been tampered with. Jackson said Benning told her, “I know you put something in my drink. I knew my drink tasted funny. ” and that Benning repeated the accusation even as she was no longer able to move her legs.
Jackson said those statements were among Benning’s final words before she was hospitalized.
Medical examiners testified that Benning died from the effects of a fatal combination of a large amount of cocaine dissolved in alcohol.
Jurors also heard testimony from Dr. Michael Olushoga of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who described Benning’s condition when she arrived at the hospital. “All clinical signs pointing that she was dead,” Olushoga testified.
As the courtroom heard about Benning’s decline, prosecutors played the 911 call that Taylor made after Benning became unresponsive. In the recording, Taylor told the 911 dispatcher, “I don’t know. I think she’s having an allergic reaction,” and added, “… She’s not responding.”
Defense attorneys have continued to argue that Benning’s death was the result of an overdose caused by her own drug use. rather than intentional poisoning. During their questioning, Taylor’s attorneys probed witnesses about Benning’s history of substance use, including marijuana and alcohol. They also sought to show that she used drugs after learning she was pregnant.
The defense emphasized testimony suggesting Benning did not directly reject an offer to consume a marijuana gummy while she was carrying.
Taylor’s attorneys also challenged the investigation itself. They questioned Benning’s friends who entered her apartment after she was hospitalized to retrieve some of her belongings, arguing the crime scene may have been compromised.
Stephanie Franklin. the mother of a close friend of Benning. testified that she and Benning’s own mother were frustrated by what they perceived as a lack of answers from investigators. “We were angry. Didn’t seem like anybody was doing anything,” Franklin testified. She added, “No answers. Why do you have a child on life support?. No answers.”.
Franklin said that while she was in Benning’s apartment, she took a series of pictures while wearing gloves, and also took the bed comforter in which Benning had vomited.
On the trial’s opening day. prosecutors and defense attorneys presented sharply different accounts of what happened before Benning’s death. Prosecutors allege Taylor dissolved cocaine into a drink he served Benning while visiting her apartment on Feb. 25, 2024. They said emergency responders found Benning face down across a bed and without a pulse before transporting her to the hospital. One first responder described Taylor as not helpful and getting in their way.
Defense attorneys countered that Benning had a history of drug use and pointed out that Taylor cooperated with investigators and was the only person who called 911.
Taylor was arrested in March 2024 and charged with the deaths of Benning and her unborn child. His bond was set at $2,500,000. Taylor bonded out of jail in April 2024 and is required to wear a GPS monitor.
The district attorney’s office is pursuing life in prison without parole for Taylor.
Blaise Taylor trial Jade Benning Nijaiha Jackson Vanderbilt University Medical Center 911 call pink lemonade poisoning cocaine dissolved in alcohol Ivy life without parole first-degree murder
So he poisoned her lemonade… like come on. People really just do stuff like that?
Wait I thought the unborn baby died first? The article says Ivy and then it’s like Feb 27 vs March 6, I’m confused. Either way sounds tragic.
I don’t even trust court testimony anymore tbh. If she was already sick and “couldn’t walk” then how are they sure what she said was real and not like, drugs making her say weird stuff? Also “cocaine in alcohol” just sounds like something they always say in these cases.
I keep getting stuck on the “pink lemonade” part. Like why that specific drink? If it was in February and she died on her birthday, man… feel so bad. And Ivy planned name too, that’s messed up. I hope they get the right guy but jury trials take forever.