Former Titans scout Mical Johnson testified Saturday in the Blaise Taylor murder case, telling jurors she had never heard of Jade Benning and didn’t know Taylor was expecting a baby.
Saturday’s courtroom schedule carried the kind of detail that tends to signal time pressure. In a criminal trial that rarely runs on the weekend, Mical Johnson—an NFL scouting pioneer—took the stand during the fifth day of the murder case against former Titans scout Blaise Taylor.
Johnson was hired by the Titans in 2021 and became the NFL’s first full-time female scouting assistant. Her work in Tennessee overlapped with Taylor’s for two years, putting her in the orbit of the former colleague now facing the most serious charges.
She told jurors she had never heard of Jade Benning. Taylor is accused of poisoning Benning while she was pregnant with their child. Johnson also testified that she didn’t know Taylor was expecting a baby.
When asked about the prospect of fatherhood, Johnson said Taylor told her he was “not ready yet” or “not anytime soon.” Those words landed in a case centered on pregnancy and death—two facts the prosecution is treating as linked to Taylor’s alleged actions.
Johnson further testified that Taylor’s demeanor changed in the fall of 2022. Benning was poisoned in February 2023 while pregnant. Johnson also said Taylor remained in Nashville for the 2023 Scouting Combine, which coincides with Benning’s poisoning.
Taylor now faces charges of both first-degree murder and felony murder in connection with the deaths of Benning and her unborn child.
The sequence Johnson described places key moments close together: her claimed lack of knowledge about Benning and a pregnancy on one side. and then a noted shift in Taylor’s behavior after 2022. followed by Benning’s February 2023 poisoning during the period Taylor stayed in Nashville for the 2023 Scouting Combine.
Mical Johnson Blaise Taylor Titans scout Jade Benning NFL scouting assistant murder case first-degree murder felony murder 2023 Scouting Combine