Blaise Taylor spent years building a career around football, first as a college standout and then as an NFL scout, before that career ended in a Nashville courtroom. He is now searched daily because a judge just handed him a sentence that will likely keep him in prison for the rest of his life. Here is what has actually been confirmed about who he is and what happened.
Background
Blaise Taylor is a former college football player and NFL scout from Waco, Texas, whose name has become widely known for a criminal case rather than for anything he accomplished in sports. He is the son of Trooper Taylor, a longtime college football coach who currently works as an assistant at Texas A&M.
People are searching his name because he was convicted this past summer of murdering his girlfriend, Jade Benning, and their unborn child, and he was sentenced on September 9, 2026. The case drew national sports and true-crime attention because Taylor once scouted players for the Tennessee Titans and came from a well-known football family, which made the trial and its outcome newsworthy far beyond Nashville.
Latest Update
As of September 10, 2026, here is what is currently known.
Confirmed development: On September 9, 2026, Judge Steve Dozier sentenced Blaise Taylor to two consecutive life sentences plus 22 years in prison. This followed a jury’s July 1, 2026 guilty verdict on charges connected to the deaths of Jade Benning and her unborn daughter.
Taylor’s attorney, Letitia Quinones-Hollins, publicly stated after the sentencing that the defense plans to appeal, calling the trial flawed. No appeal has been filed or ruled on as of this writing, so any claim that the conviction has been overturned or is being reconsidered is false and unconfirmed. Reporting also notes that dozens of character letters were submitted on Taylor’s behalf before sentencing, which the judge weighed against the severity of the crime before issuing consecutive terms.
Full Profile
Family and Early Life
Taylor grew up in Waco, Texas, in a football-focused household. His father, Trooper Taylor, has coached college football for years, including as a cornerbacks coach at Arkansas State and, more recently, as an assistant offensive coach at Texas A&M, which connected Blaise to college coaching circles from a young age.
Career Path
Taylor played defensive back and punt returner at Arkansas State University from 2014 to 2018, where he served as team captain and earned all-conference honors in 2014 and 2016. He still holds the program’s career record for punt return yards, and he was recognized as a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete for completing both a bachelor’s degree and an MBA before his final season, which is an unusual accomplishment for a player still competing at the top level of his sport. After college, he worked as a scout for the Tennessee Titans from 2019 until 2023, the same year the murder occurred, evaluating college talent and helping the team prepare for the draft. He then took a job as a defensive analyst at Utah State, and in 2024 he was hired for a similar role at Texas A&M — a job that lasted only days before he was arrested and his football career effectively ended.
Age
Taylor was 30 years old at the time of his conviction and sentencing in 2026.
Religion
Court reporting noted that character letters submitted on his behalf described him as a person of faith, but no specific religious denomination has been independently confirmed, so this detail is left as reported rather than stated as verified fact.
Spouse/Partner
Taylor was not married. At the time of the crime, he was in a relationship with Jade Benning, who was pregnant with their child. Benning died on March 6, 2023, nine days after being poisoned, which was also her 25th birthday. Their unborn daughter, who the family planned to name Ivy, died two days after the poisoning.
Net Worth
No verified net worth figure for Blaise Taylor is available in any credible public record. He is not known to have earned NFL player-level income, since his football career was as a scout and analyst rather than as an active player, so any specific dollar figure online should be treated as unconfirmed.
Parents
His father is Trooper Taylor, a college football coach currently serving as an assistant at Texas A&M. His mother’s identity and background have not been detailed in verified reporting reviewed for this article.
Height
No verified height figure for Blaise Taylor has been confirmed in credible public sources, so this detail is listed as unconfirmed.
Education
Taylor earned both a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration from Arkansas State University, completing both before he started his final season of college football, which was an unusual academic achievement for a player at his level.
Hometown/State of Origin
Blaise Taylor is originally from Waco, Texas.
Official Reference Link
No verified, currently active official social media account for Blaise Taylor could be confirmed at the time of writing. For accurate case updates, the Davidson County District Attorney’s official case announcement is a reliable public reference.
 This case involves the deaths of two victims, Jade Benning and her unborn daughter. This article covers only what has been confirmed through court proceedings and verified news reporting, and it does not speculate beyond those confirmed facts.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2014–2018 | Taylor plays defensive back at Arkansas State University |
| 2019–2023 | Taylor works as a scout for the Tennessee Titans |
| February 25, 2023 | Jade Benning is hospitalized after Taylor calls 911 |
| February 27, 2023 | Benning’s unborn daughter dies |
| March 6, 2023 | Jade Benning dies on her 25th birthday |
| 2023–2024 | Taylor works at Utah State, then is briefly hired at Texas A&M |
| March 2024 | Taylor is arrested in Logan, Utah |
| July 1, 2026 | Jury finds Taylor guilty on four counts related to both deaths |
| September 9, 2026 | Judge sentences Taylor to two consecutive life terms plus 22 years |
Reader Questions (FAQ)
Who is Blaise Taylor?
Blaise Taylor is a former Tennessee Titans scout and Arkansas State defensive back who was convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning, and their unborn child in 2023. He was sentenced on September 9, 2026.
What did Blaise Taylor do?
Prosecutors proved that Taylor gave Jade Benning a drink laced with a lethal dose of cocaine at her Nashville apartment in February 2023. She and her unborn daughter both died from the poisoning within days of each other.
What was Blaise Taylor sentenced to?
On September 9, 2026, a Nashville judge sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences plus an additional 22 years in prison, meaning he faces roughly a century behind bars before any parole eligibility.
Is Blaise Taylor appealing his conviction?
Yes. His attorney, Letitia Quinones-Hollins, said after sentencing that the defense plans to appeal the verdict, calling the trial flawed. No appeal has been decided as of this writing.
Who was Blaise Taylor’s girlfriend?
His girlfriend was Jade Benning, a 25-year-old Nashville woman who was five months pregnant at the time she was poisoned. She died on her birthday, March 6, 2023.
Did Blaise Taylor play in the NFL?
No. He never played in the NFL as an active player. He worked in professional football as a scout for the Tennessee Titans from 2019 to 2023, and earlier played college football at Arkansas State.
Who is Blaise Taylor’s father?
His father is Trooper Taylor, a college football coach who has worked at Arkansas State and is currently an assistant coach at Texas A&M.
Wrap-Up
Blaise Taylor’s story is a sharp turn from a promising football career to a life sentence for two murders, and it stands as one of the more closely watched criminal cases to come out of the sports world in recent memory. His background as a scholar-athlete, a scout for an NFL franchise, and the son of a well-known coach made the case unusually visible compared to many similar prosecutions, which is part of why searches for his name spiked around both the verdict and the sentencing.
The verdict and sentencing bring a legal conclusion to the trial phase of the case, even as his defense team pursues an appeal that could take well over a year to resolve. Appeals of this kind rarely change a jury’s underlying findings of fact, though they can occasionally affect sentencing or procedure, so it is worth watching official court filings rather than secondhand claims for any real update.
For Jade Benning’s family, the sentencing was described as a form of closure rather than relief, since no outcome in court changes what happened to Jade and her unborn daughter, Ivy. As this case moves into the appeals process, this article will reflect only confirmed court filings and rulings, not speculation about what a future appeal might produce.
Thomas Andrew is the founder of Odubio.com, a digital platform sharing inspiring biographies, news, and stories about global icons and achievers.