A Nashville courtroom has convicted former Tennessee Titans scout and Arkansas State defensive back, Blaise Taylor of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child, Yankee Scores reports.
Per ESPN, Taylor aged 30 was convicted of four counts, including second-degree murder of Jade Benning, first-degree premeditated murder of the unborn child and two counts of felony murder.
Blaise Taylor, a former defensive back at Arkansas State and NFL scout for the Tennessee Titans, was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend and her unborn child Wednesday in a Nashville, Tennessee, courtroom.https://t.co/tjD6rNDsKI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 1, 2026
Jurors deliberated for nearly two hours before reaching their judgment and the prosecutors say Taylor laced Benning’s pink lemonade during a date night at her Nashville apartment on Feb. 25, 2023.
He contacted 911 that night, informing dispatchers that Benning appeared to be suffering an allergic reaction.
Her condition deteriorated swiftly and she never spoke to detectives before she died.
She died March 6, 2023, on her 25th birthday, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Two days after Benning was taken to the hospital, the unborn child, Taylor’s daughter-to-be died.
The jury recommended life sentences on the first-degree murder counts.
Taylor is due to be sentenced on September 9, at which time the court will also decide his punishment on the second-degree murder charge and whether his sentences will run concurrently or consecutively.
Taylor played defensive back at Arkansas State from 2014-17, where he was a team captain and earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors as a defensive back and as a punt returner.
He’s the school’s career leader in punt return yards. He then spent four seasons as a scout with the Titans before becoming a defensive analyst at Utah State.
He was arrested by U.S. Marshals just days after being recruited as a defensive assistant at Texas A&M in 2024.
