[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A former college football star is under arrest and charged with murdering his girlfriend and their unborn child with poison.
Blaise Taylor had a stellar career as a defensive back playing major college football at Arkansas State University before graduating in 2017. Then the 27-year-old rose through the coaching ranks, as he was hired for pro scouting and defensive analyst positions with the NFL‘s Tennessee Titans and Utah State University. And a few weeks ago, he was hired by college football powerhouse Texas A&M University, per ESPN.
But that’s all over now. According to multiple media reports, the former standout defensive back was arrested in Utah by US Marshals on Thursday night. He’s charged with poisoning girlfriend Jade Benning and her unborn fetus in an incident that occurred in late February of last year at her Nashville apartment. Taylor had been working as a scout for the Titans at the time; after Jade’s death, he took the Utah State job and spent this past season with that school’s team.
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While Taylor was in Utah for the past year, cops in Nashville were hard at work investigating Jade’s untimely death. The tragedy unfolded on the night of February 25, 2023. Per arrest records, Taylor was visiting Benning, who was five months pregnant, in her Nashville-area apartment that evening. Just after 9:30 p.m. local time, he called 911 and informed dispatchers that Benning was having what appeared to be an allergic reaction to something.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and immediately transported Benning to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition. However, she fell into unconsciousness before she could speak with EMTs or responding police officers. Two days later, her baby — who is believed to have been fathered by Taylor, per WSMV News — died in utero. Then a little more than a week after that, on March 6 — which also happened to be Benning’s 25th birthday — she succumbed to the effects of the poisoning, too.
At the time, though, authorities weren’t sure it was a poisoning yet. Taylor was not arrested, and Benning’s death was initially thought to be an allergic reaction or some other medical issue. That detectives were never able to interview her before she died made things even more complicated. Soon thereafter, Taylor left the Titans, moved out of Nashville, and took a job with Utah State’s football program as a senior defensive analyst for this past season.
But Benning’s story didn’t end there. Per WSMV News, the Metro Nashville Police Department assigned Homicide Unit Detective Adam Reese to look deeper into the case. While working alongside medical examiners and doctors from the coroner’s office, Reese was able to uncover evidence that suggested Benning was poisoned. The indictment against Taylor alleges he poisoned Benning and her unborn baby without her knowledge on the night of February 25 prior to calling paramedics.
Now, instead of going to work alongside his dad Trooper Taylor, the associate head coach at Texas A&M, Blaise is facing justice. He has officially been charged with two counts of first-degree murder — one for Benning and another for her unborn baby. Per the US Sun, Nashville cops are working with the US Marshals and authorities in Utah to have Taylor extradited back to Tennessee.
Here’s more on this shocking case (below):
[Image via YouTube]