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Former NFL scout convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend faces sentencing in Nashville. Here’s what to know. “You did this so something would happen to the baby,” was one of the last things ever heard from Jade Benning. What This Story Is About - Blaise Taylor, the former NFL scout who was convicted of fatally poisoning his pregnant girlfriend in 2023, faces sentencing in Nashville. Why It Matters - Taylor was convicted earlier this summer for giving his girlfriend a fatal dose of cocaine while she was 24 weeks pregnant. She was clinically dead within hours of the dose, and their unborn child died two days later. What Happens Next - Taylor’s sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Nashville on Wednesday. Catch Up - Who is Blaise Taylor? What to know about ex-NFL scout convicted in pregnant girlfriend’s murder - Blaise Taylor, former NFL scout, convicted of murdering pregnant girlfriend in Nashville - Woman recalls the final heartbreaking phone call on the night Jade Benning and her unborn child were allegedly poisoned - Photos show ‘black hole’ former NFL scout painted for nursery night of pregnant girlfriend’s suspected murder NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Blaise Taylor, the former NFL scout who was convicted of fatally poisoning his pregnant girlfriend in 2023, faces sentencing in Nashville on Wednesday. After days of emotional testimony this summer, it took jurors two hours to unanimously convict Taylor on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder. The trial revealed that Taylor had slipped a fatal dose of cocaine into a drink that he had given his pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning, on the night that she asked him to come over to paint canvases for their unborn daughter’s nursery. The jury has recommended that Taylor, a former Arkansas State University defensive back who later worked as a scout for the Tennessee Titans until 2023, receive life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at a courthouse in Nashville. Why was Blaise Taylor convicted? Taylor was found guilty of poisoning his girlfriend, Jade Benning, in 2023. Benning was 24 weeks pregnant at the time with a girl, whom she had planned to name Ivy. During the trial, Benning’s childhood best friend Nijaiha Jackson provided key details about the night of the murder, including the moment she received a harrowing phone call from Benning that ended up being her last. Jackson had been at Benning’s apartment earlier in the evening and said that Benning and Taylor were planning on painting canvases for their child’s nursery. Later, while Jackson was on her way home and stopped at a gas station, she received a phone call from Benning. “She immediately starts saying, ‘What did you do? What did you put in my drink?’ Then I heard her say, ‘Blaise, you’re scaring me,’” Jackson testified. “He said, ‘You’re scaring me.’ And she was like, ‘I know you put something in my drink. ... I knew my drink tasted funny.’” The last thing Jackson said she heard her friend say was: “You did this so something would happen to the baby.” Taylor ended up calling 911, the audio of which revealed he had told the operator that he believed Benning was having an allergic reaction. But when he was asked on that call about typical symptoms of a severe allergy, including rash, hives, redness, or swelling, he said she wasn’t exhibiting any of them. By the time Benning was taken to the hospital by ambulance, she was clinically dead. Her unborn daughter died two days later. Benning, who had been placed on life support, died days after that — on her 25th birthday. Doctors determined she had an extremely high level of cocaine in her system and had died of acute cocaine toxicity. Copyright 2026 WSMV. All rights reserved.