Former ballerina Ashley Benefield gets 20-year prison term for killing husband

Benefield, 33, also received 10 years of probation for shooting Doug Benefield, 58, at their home in Florida

Ashley Benefield, the former ballerina convicted in July of manslaughter for killing her estranged husband in what she claimed was self-defense, was sentenced today to 20 years in prison plus 10 years of probation.

Benefield, 33, shot her husband, 58-year-old Doug Benefield, at her home in Florida on 27 September 2020. The subsequent media circus and trial, dubbed the Black Swan trial," has left many wondering if the act was intentional or in self-defense.