A HOR::RIFYI:::NG SECRET UNCOVERED AFTER 12 MONTHS: The “Black Swan” ballet actress, Ashley Benefield, unexpectedly submitted evidence proving her innocence after allegedly k!ll!ng her abusive husband. And this is how the case CHANGED…

Ashley Benefield during trial ; Ashley Benefield’s mugshot.Credit : NBC News ; Florida Department of Corrections\

Ashley Benefield’s 2024 murder trial exploded into a media sensation, earning wall-to-wall coverage across major outlets and true-crime series like Dateline.

The former ballerina’s story was so widely consumed that it earned the nickname “The Black Swan Case,” in reference to Natalie Portman’s 2010 thriller.

“I think what it comes down to is that ‘the black swan’ has a catchy ring and it sensationalizes my life and my situation, and so they ran with it,” Ashley told ABC News in July 2024, before her trial. “And it’s sad to me that people who don’t even know me have this idea of a monster when they think of me.”

In September 2020, Ashley shot and killed her husband, Doug Benefield, at her mother’s home in Florida. Though she claimed it was self-defense and that he had a history of abuse, prosecutors alleged that she wanted to have sole custody of their daughter, per CBS News. Some of Doug’s family believed her motives were financial.

The jury found Ashley not guilty of second-degree murder but guilty of manslaughter, and she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Here’s everything to know about where Ashley Benefield is now.

Ashley and Doug married 13 days after they met in 2016

Less than two weeks after they met at a Republican campaign event in August 2016, Doug and Ashley tied the knot. The two had a 30-year age gap.

Doug had been previously married to Renee Cousar Benefield, his second wife, who died in 2015 of a heart condition called coronary artery sclerosis, per CBS News. They had welcomed a daughter, Eva, in 2001.

Cracks in Ashley and Doug’s marriage surfaced quickly, and she alleged to Vanity Fair in a 2021 interview that he had punched their dog and fired a gun into their ceiling during some of their arguments. After she became pregnant, she became suspicious that her husband was trying to poison her and that he had also previously done so to his late wife, per 48 Hours: The Case of the Black Swan.

By the time their daughter, Emerson, was born in March 2018, Ashley had left Doug in South Carolina and had moved in with her mother in Florida.

In 2020, Doug was shot twice inside his mother-in-law’s house 

Though Ashley initially hid Emerson’s birth from Doug and continued to claim that he had poisoned her during her efforts to retain sole custody, the couple eventually reconciled, per Vanity Fair. In May 2020, they had planned to move to Maryland, and months later, he rented a moving truck to bring her belongings from Florida.

While they were packing up on Sept. 27, 2020, Ashley shot Doug twice in the arm and leg, though one bullet also entered his chest, and fled to a neighbor’s house. She was still carrying the gun and claimed that her husband had attacked her.

The 58-year-old was taken to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries. Per an affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Doug’s entry wounds suggested that he was not facing Ashley when he was shot.

Ashley claimed self-defense, citing years of abuse 

In November 2020, Ashley was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, per CBS News. She pleaded not guilty, alleging that Doug had been controlling and abusive during the entirety of their six-year marriage.

“He would throw things or break things or smash things,” she said on the stand during her 2024 trial, per 48 Hours. “He would come at me like he was gonna hit me. He told me I was lucky that he punched walls instead of me.”

Prosecutors argued that Ashley fabricated the stories of Doug’s abuse, including the poisoning claims, in an effort to keep him away from their daughter. His cousin Tommie told PEOPLE in November 2021 that she was financially motivated to kill Doug, saying that he was “her mark.”

“She found him at his most vulnerable,” he said. “She took his money, his peace, and eventually she took his life. And he loved her until the end.”

Where is Ashley now?

In December 2024, Ashley was sentenced to 20 years in prison, plus 10 years of parole. The former ballerina was previously held at Homestead Correctional Institute, but has been moved to Lowell Correctional Institute in Ocala, Fla., per the Florida Department of Corrections.

She sought a new trial in 2025, alleging that one of the jurors used a flip phone in court and shared information outside the courtroom, WWSB reported.

Ashley was moved to disciplinary confinement for alleged battery on a correctional officer in January 2026, per CourtTV.

Ashley will be eligible for release in 2044.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.