“What Did You Put in My Drink?” Pregnant Woman’s Final Words Revealed in Ex-Football Star’s Murder Trial

A Tennessee jury heard heartbreaking testimony this week about the final moments of Jade Benning, the pregnant girlfriend of former college football star Blaise Taylor.

Taylor, 30, a former Arkansas State football player and Tennessee Titans scout, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder. Prosecutors allege he intentionally poisoned Benning and their unborn daughter with a fatal dose of cocaine at Benning’s Tennessee apartment on February 25, 2023.

Benning was five months pregnant at the time. Her baby girl, who would have been named Ivy, died two days later on February 27. Benning died on March 6, 2023 — her 25th birthday.

That detail alone makes this case almost unbearable to read.

But during the second day of Taylor’s trial, prosecutors revealed what they say were some of Benning’s last words.

According to Nashville Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman, Benning called her best friend shortly before she became unresponsive and accused Taylor of putting something in her drink.

“What did you put in my drink?” Norman said, recounting Benning’s alleged words. “I knew my drink tasted funny. You did this because you didn’t want the baby.”

Benning’s best friend, Nijaiha Jackson, previously described that same phone call during Taylor’s bond hearing in April 2024. Jackson said Benning told her that her drink tasted strange, that she could not walk straight, and that she believed Taylor had done something to hurt the baby.

Then, according to Jackson, Benning stopped responding.

Taylor called 911 around 9:38 p.m. that night as Benning lost consciousness in another room, according to prosecutors and dispatch audio played for jurors.

In the call, Taylor told the dispatcher he thought Benning might be having an allergic reaction. He said they had been eating, cooking, and hanging out before she suddenly said she did not feel well.

When the dispatcher asked what Benning was allergic to, Taylor said he did not think she was allergic to anything.

Emergency responders reportedly arrived about 20 minutes later and found Benning face down in her bed without a pulse. She was taken to a local hospital and placed on life support.

Prosecutors argue Taylor did not want Benning to have the baby and intentionally poisoned her. They told jurors that Benning’s toxicology results were unlike anything the Nashville medical examiner’s office had previously seen.

Taylor’s defense team is pushing back hard against that narrative.

His attorney, Letitia Quinones-Hollins, described Taylor as an excited father-to-be and claimed Benning abused drugs and alcohol. She also emphasized to jurors that Taylor was the person who called 911.

“There was only one person that night that called 911,” Quinones-Hollins told the jury, arguing that Taylor called for help during the medical emergency.

That is likely to become one of the biggest questions in the trial: was Taylor trying to save Benning, as the defense suggests, or was the 911 call part of a larger effort to distance himself from what prosecutors say happened?

Taylor remains under GPS monitoring after posting a $2.5 million bond set during his April 2024 hearing. If convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder, he could face life in prison without parole.

Before the charges, Taylor was known for his football career. He played defensive back and punt returner for Arkansas State from 2014 to 2017 and remains the school’s all-time leader in pass breakups and punt return yards.

But now, his athletic accomplishments are being overshadowed by a murder trial centered on a young pregnant woman, her unborn daughter, and a phone call that prosecutors say captured Benning’s fear in her final moments.

The trial is expected to continue with testimony from witnesses and experts.

What do you think jurors will focus on most in this case — Benning’s alleged final phone call, the toxicology evidence, or the fact that Taylor called 911?