Stony-faced ballerina Ashley Benefield guilty in killing of GOP donor husband as emotional stepdaughter praises verdict: ‘Justice that he deserves’

The former ballerina accused of fatally shooting her wealthy GOP donor husband appeared stony-faced when she was found guilty of manslaughter in a Florida courtroom late Tuesday.

Ashley Benefield, 33, stood trial for the second-degree murder of her husband, Doug Benefield, in the case known as the “Black Swan murder” trial when she received the verdict on the lesser charge, according to Court TV.

After nearly seven hours of deliberations, the Manatee County jury found the ex-ballerina discharged the firearm that killed her estranged husband in her mother’s Lakewood Ranch home on Sept. 27, 2020, in self-defense — despite prosecutors arguing that she had planned his murder.