Dateline NBC - Deadly Dance

Episode Date: November 19, 2024

Dubbed the ‘Black Swan’ case, a former ballerina falls in love with a man 30 years her senior, but when their love story spirals out of control one of them winds up dead. Andrea Canning reports.

Tonight on Dateline. He started coming towards me, and then he lunged at me. And I started pulling the trigger. Ashley ran to her neighbor, hysterical. She had shot her husband. I guess he had attacked her, and she shot him. She's a beautiful ballerina. She appears to be a great mom.

We wanted to find out what happened in that room. He's thrown furniture. He would push her into a wall. I really believed he was going to kill her. Her clothing didn't appear to be stained or torn. She didn't look like she had any injuries. So you're seeing this case shifting from self-defense to murder? Yes ma'am.

There were guns placed around this house. She ambushed him on that day in that room. People are calling Ashley the Black Swan, this dark ballerina who is a cold-blooded killer. There's just nothing about that that's true. I'm scared to death. How can you not believe her? Did the dancer choreograph a killing inside the notorious Black Swan murder case?

I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with Deadly Dance. and passion to make it as a ballerina. One beautiful dancer and model had all that. Plus, the perfect partner to share her dreams. She thought he was very charming. He was smart. He was fun to talk to. It was just a click. He started describing it. There's this beautiful lady that loves me. In 13 days, we got married. 13.

Yep. But one warm autumn night, it ended just as fast as it began. Left behind, four bullet casings and a love story that had spiraled out of control. September 27, 2020. As the sun was setting, a frantic 911 call came in from Lakewood Ranch, a community near Sarasota, Florida. He's saying the neighbor came over, a female neighbor. It was a domestic.

The neighbor was 29-year-old Ashley Benefield, and she had a dramatic story to tell. She came in, she was quite hysterical. I didn't know who was banging on my door. He said he attacked her, and she shot him. He was Ashley's husband, 59-year-old Doug Benefield. Detective Dan Dickerman with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office raced to the scene.

When the deputies first got here, when they arrived on scene, Douglas Benefield was still inside the house. In order to get to him, the first thing they had to do was make the scene safe, which they knew from the 911 call that Ashley was next door and was claiming to be the shooter. Where in the house is she?

My bedroom! My bedroom! Her bedroom. My bedroom! Once they secured the scene, first responders found Doug bleeding on a bedroom floor and pulled him into the living room to perform CPR. Barely alive, he was rushed to the hospital.

How many times was Doug shot? At this point, I believe we knew of two. Hands up, nothing in them. I'm gonna put your hands where she can see them, okay? All right? Just start walking out front there outside. Ashley walked out of her neighbor's house and into a sheriff's vehicle. Ashley Benefield is in the back of a patrol car.

Do you go talk to her before you go in the house? Yes, after I instructed the deputy to see if she would be willing to go up to our office. We try not to do the interviews on the scene. There's just too much going on. I was told that she was willing to go to the office, but she wanted to see her daughter. At the time of the shooting, her three-year-old daughter Emerson

was at a local park with her grandmother. The two returned to a chaotic scene. Allowed them to walk up to the car where Ashley could see her daughter, but her daughter couldn't see Ashley in the back of the car. It's dark-tinted windows, and the the window is up and that was acceptable to her. Did she talk to her mom at all?

She did not at the scene at that point. Then someone surprising showed up. Ashley's therapist. Twenty eight years in law enforcement. Unusual to see a therapist show up at a crime scene like this? Yeah, I've never seen a therapist or a doctor that has shown at a crime scene, an active crime scene that has just occurred. It's like she was on speed dial.

Yeah, she was obviously close and available. Meanwhile, at the sheriff's office, Deputy Justin Warren was waiting for Ashley to arrive, but someone else got there first. Her attorney approached me out in front of the Sheriff's Office Operations Center and advised me she was her attorney and the other two attorneys were on the way as well. The attorney is there before Ashley even gets to the Sheriff's Office? Yes.

And two more on the way? Two more on the way. Did that surprise you? Yeah, it did strike me as odd. Three attorneys and a therapist. It was clear this was going to be an unusual investigation, especially after Deputy Warren started checking police records. So we started looking into these things.

I'm like, oh, that's kind of interesting. Turns out there was a long and twisted history between Doug and Ashley. This reads like a lifetime movie. You have allegations of poison tea, stalking, murder. It goes on and on. Every time I thought this is the craziest thing I've ever heard, then I would hear something else.

In fact, there was a tidal wave of accusations. She was making some allegations at some point that Doug had possibly poisoned his deceased wife. In the hours after shooting her husband Doug, Ashley Benefield was at the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. Investigators hoped she would fill in the gaps leading up to the moment she pulled the trigger. We know that this is a self-defense claim. We know from the initial 911 call.

So we need to find out exactly to the best we can what happened inside that house. But Ashley, sitting next to her attorney, exercised her right not to say anything. I know that we haven't talked yet and we're not gonna be taking a statement from you. That's fine. No one knows Ashley's story, but Ashley.

But Ashley, yes ma'am. She wasn't under arrest, so Ashley was free to go. A few miles away at the hospital, doctors were trying to save Doug's life, but his injuries were too severe and he died. His family was stunned. I'm just, I'm overcome with grief. I can't think straight.

Doug's brother David and cousin Tommy called Eva, Doug's 19 year old daughter from a previous marriage to break the news. This is such a devastating phone call. Horrible. She begins wailing and it was just one of the worst moments of my life. She goes from anger into grief,

crushing grief so quickly. Grief she knew all too well. Eva not only has lost her mom, but now she's lost her dad too. Eva's mom Renee died from a heart attack when Eva was only 15. Her dad was her whole world. Eva talks about how wonderful he was.

She said, he was my best friend. I could bring all my girl problems too. And I loved hearing that about it because that's the Doug that I knew. Eva had struggled to accept her stepmom and now detectives were diving into Ashley and Doug's May December romance. So we start to kind of try to develop a little bit more background as far as what they were like together and what the relationship really was. They learned that Doug met Ashley in the summer of 2016, less than nine months after his wife died. The former Navy pilot was 54, deeply religious and worked in the defense industry. Ashley, 30 years younger, was a retired ballerina who

modeled and taught dancing. The two instantly clicked at a dinner party hosted by former presidential candidate, Dr. Ben Carson. The stunning part is they go outside the house and she shows them a gun that she's carrying in the bra, her concealed carry in front of two Secret Service teams. These two really bonded over guns, God, and politics. It was part of their bonding for sure. Dr. Barbara Russell is Ashley's therapist,

the same therapist who showed up at the scene the night of the shooting. She's known Ashley for years. He texted her, I believe, that very night and pursued her after that. And that was the beginning of their whirlwind relationship that ended in marriage 13 days later. That is the definition of whirlwind.

It certainly is. Ashley moved from Florida to Doug's home in Charleston, South Carolina, where the newlyweds became business partners as well. They formed a ballet company. It was Ashley's dream come true. She said, I don't want to pick dancers in a room based on their height or their weight or their age, anything. I want to pick them based on their talent and their work ethic. Sarah Murowski was hired as a principal dancer. The nearly six-foot tall ballerina says her height hindered her career.

She bonded with Ashley, who was also tall, and was touched by Ashley and Doug's relationship. They're the most in-love couple I think I've ever met in person in my life. They're very touchy-feely, but not so much that it was obnoxious. By the summer of 2017, Ashley was pregnant. Doug embraced the idea of being an older dad. He was genuinely excited about the path forward.

But investigators discovered their bright smiles didn't tell the whole story. There was darkness beneath the surface of this relationship. Very much so. There was a lot of darkness. Ashley gave Dr. Russell permission to speak with us. She says Ashley told her Doug turned violent and abusive within weeks of their wedding. He's thrown furniture. He would push her into a wall, scream in her face, and punch the wall.

Then Ashley said the abuse turned sinister. Ashley believed that Doug was poisoning her while she was pregnant, her and the unborn child. Yes. Ashley claimed Doug would make her tea and was adamant she was pregnant, her and the unborn child. Yes. Ashley claimed Doug would make her tea and was adamant she drink it even though she felt it made her sick. She began to suspect it was laced with something. Ashley also made this jaw-dropping accusation.

Doug told her that he killed his wife Renee. This is what she told you? Yes. Did he say how he killed his wife? He said he poisoned her. And the police will always believe him and he will kill her too. About eight weeks into her pregnancy, Ashley said she felt she had no choice but to flee to her mom's place in Florida. The ballet company folded soon after. Ashley got a restraining order against Doug and didn't tell him when their daughter was born in the spring of 2018.

She left his name off the birth certificate and asked a family court judge to terminate his parental rights. But even then, she said she couldn't escape him. She believed Doug was stalking her. He crossed three state lines, even with a restraining order, to follow her to Florida. The details of the shooting took Dr. Russell by surprise given everything she'd heard about

Doug and Ashley's relationship. I was so shocked that it wasn't Ashley that was dead. I really believed he was going to kill her. Dr. Russell shared all this and more with detectives. Was she giving you insight into Doug and Ashley's relationship about how volatile it was? I was hearing a lot of complaints that Ashley had with Doug. In addition to Dr. Russell's statement, police reports documented the couple's tumultuous relationship.

We started searching in our computer records database and noticed that there were several reports going back, I think, to 2017 in reference to domestic violence, different complaints and things like that. Given their history, investigators wondered if Doug's shooting was in fact a case of self-defense. But there was another sign to this story, and it was a he said, she said for the ages. Ashley was severely abusing him emotionally and through the control of the child. Detective Justin Warren had a growing stack of evidence suggesting Doug Benifield was a violent and abusive husband.

But when he spoke with Doug's family, they painted a different picture. Growing up, he was a star athlete. He was a friend to everybody, just super kind. To anyone who hears about the negative side of Doug, in your eyes this is just a snapshot, a small snapshot of a man who was so much more than that. Absolutely. I don't want to make excuses for bad behavior and I do not want to come across like I'm trying to say, you know, Doug was perfect and all this stuff.

But no, but he owned his mistakes and he grew. David and Tommy acknowledge that Doug had a few angry outbursts, but say he regretted them and sought counseling. And David believes if anyone was a victim in the relationship, it was Doug. Ashley was severely abusing him emotionally and through the control of the child. Doug was not doing any of that.

Ashley's therapist says that Doug told Ashley that he killed Renee. Is there any truth to that as far as you know? No, that is absolutely absurd. This reads like a lifetime movie. You have allegations of poison tea, stalking, murder. It goes on and on. Every time I thought, this is the craziest thing I've ever heard, then I would hear something else. Attorney Stephanie Murphy represented Doug

during his legal battles with Ashley. She tried to get Charleston law enforcement to exhume Renee's body, to try to say that he had killed her. She was going to newspapers around the country talking about the poisoning. She made every allegation that she possibly could to multiple law enforcement agencies.

Detectives learned that Doug fought to see his daughter after Ashley filed to terminate his parental rights. The couple faced off in family court in the summer of 2018. Baby Emerson was six months old, and Doug had never met her. Okay, let's go ahead and go on the record of Benefield versus Benefield. This is a recording of the hearing. Ashley took the stand.

When you lived with Douglas Benefield, was there domestic violence? Yes. He hurt our pets in order to hurt me. He was verbally abusive. He would yell and scream at me, and he would threaten me. How many times did he punch holes in the drywall in the house? Several times. Ashley also presented lab reports and expert testimony

as proof Doug had poisoned her while she was pregnant. Ashley made it clear what she thought was at stake for her daughter. I believe that if he were to have access to her now that he very well could cause her serious harm or or kill her. Doug testified too. Never since we were together did I ever believe she was scared. He said he never stalked Ashley, but admitted to yelling at her, punching a few walls, and mistreating the pets on occasion.

He's a big dog, and he jumped up in my lap. And yeah, I mean, I admit I hit him. I didn't hit him like you would, you know, hit a punching bag or anything, but I hit him. But Doug denied poisoning Ashley and used his own expert to debunk the lab reports. And he was adamant he played no role in his late wife's death. Ashley, Benifield has accused you of murdering your wife, Renee.

Did you do that? No, I did not. She died of natural causes. Authorities confirmed Renee's death was not suspicious. The allegations against Doug were at worst blown out of proportion, but at best, just completely untrue. The judge seemed to agree when she

issued this scathing ruling. There is absolutely not a single scintilla of credibility that I'm attaching to anything that was testified to, at least in this hearing of Ms. Benefield. It starts from basically the absurd. We then move forward to the actual presentation that she's had in this courtroom, the turning on of tears when she thinks it's appropriate. There is not a single scintilla of credible evidence that Ms. Benefield has ever been poisoned or suffered from any illness of any poison.

The judge gave Doug immediate access to his daughter and granted him sole responsibility over her medical care. That's a turning point in all of this. It was a huge turning point. This was the court finding that the decisions that Ashley had made up to that point for her daughter were detrimental. So she took that away from Ashley and gave it to Doug. Four days after the ruling, Stephanie Murphy was there when Doug met Emerson. Was there a tender moment when he lays eyes on his daughter for the first time? She was a cute plump little baby and so so there he was, just holding this little girl.

The look on his face was pure love. She was stunned by what happened next. Doug said, we're all going to go together, me and Ashley and our daughter. I said, Doug, this is not a good idea. And he was so trusting, blindly trusting of her. The strange ballet between the two entered its next act. Doug got a place in Florida and saw Emerson regularly over the next two years.

He and Ashley also spent time together as a couple. But detectives discovered the relationship was still unpredictable. Ashley continued to confide in people that she was afraid of Doug and accused him of abusing their daughter. Doug told his attorney he thought Ashley might be mentally unstable. Yet they decided they would all move to Maryland where Ashley grew up, but still live separately. The night of the shooting, they were together packing Ashley's stuff. Obviously with domestic violence, there are times that women or men will go back to the person that's abusing them. It does happen. But the detective was becoming convinced

that this wasn't the case with Ashley. Because despite her making over a dozen complaints against Doug, something jumped out. He had no criminal record. It's kind of a red flag that kind of goes up. It says, huh, that's something we should pay attention to. Meaning that you're seeing these complaints against Doug but no arrests of Doug. Correct. There was no evidence to suggest that a crime had actually occurred.

Detective Dickerman thought there were also red flags at the scene. Why would Ashley agree to meet with Doug alone? And inside the house, investigators noticed this. There's a gun readily accessible in this bedroom when everything else is packed up. And in addition to that, you have another gun that's readily accessible in the pantry sitting by the peanut butter on the shelf.

Is it loaded? It's loaded. Then they found a third loaded gun. It just kept building up and adding up more and more that something was going to happen this night. One crucial piece of the puzzle was still missing. Ashley had not given a statement detailing her version of events. She wasn't telling anyone what happened, not even her therapist Dr. Russell. Ashley actually lived with her for eight months after the shooting. Did she make any comments like, I had to do it or he was gonna kill me?

Anything like that. She didn't need to say anything like that. That was so evident. It was so obvious. What had become obvious to Detective Warren and his team was that Ashley's claim of self-defense was full of holes. You're seeing this case shifting from self-defense to murder.

Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. After a two-month investigation, Detective Warren had reached a stark conclusion about Ashley. We're looking at all these complaints. Everything's unfounded. She just was not believable in anything that she was saying, making these baseless accusations against Doug.

And investigators were not buying her claim of self-defense. In November, 2020, she was arrested and charged with second degree murder. Some in the media started calling her the Black Swan after the movie about a diabolical ballerina. People are calling Ashley this dark ballerina who is a manipulative cold-blooded killer. If it wasn't so serious, I would be laughing. There's just nothing about that that's true by anybody who knows her. Doug's daughter Eva was convinced Ashley murdered her dad. And as the publicity around the case grew, she decided to let the world know.

As y'all know, Ashley killed my dad. She turned to TikTok. Her videos dripping with sarcasm and dark humor racked up tens of millions of views. I just want to say thank you for being so supportive the last few weeks. Ashley had supporters too. And when her trial started in July of 2024,

they came out in force, marching near the courthouse. And the win times! Her daughter, Emerson, now six years old, was front and center. Well, I'll tell you the thing that was the most concerning was that the daughter was out being displayed on this picket line or whatever you would call it. Well, that's your niece. That's my niece. She's holding up a picket sign put out there by adults.

Assistant state attorneys Suzanne O'Donnell and Rebecca Friel knew some jurors might sympathize with Ashley. Would you say it would be your biggest challenge combating Ashley's version that she's a victim of domestic violence? And people want to believe victims of domestic violence? 100%. That was the main difficulty. I think an average person wants to believe when somebody says they're a victim that they are in fact a victim. You ready to go? Bring the jury. The case was almost entirely circumstantial, and in Florida, Ashley's fate would be decided

by six jurors. Would they think she was a domestic abuse victim? Or a liar? There were also other complaints, domestic violence complaints. In opening statements, prosecutors said at times Doug had anger issues, but he never physically harmed Ashley. Not once did she ever say he choked her, kicked her, anything like that. There's things you can't escape, that he's not a saint.

Yes, he was definitely not a saint, you are correct, but did that day when that happened, did he do something that required deadly force? And that's what we tried to focus on. Prosecutors had to convince jurors Ashley's life was not in danger that night. Their theory? She shot Doug because she was desperate to have Emerson to herself, fearful she might lose her.

This was a custody battle that this mother was going to win at all costs and the cost was the life of Doug Benefield and that is murder. Jures learned Ashley fired four shots at Doug, two hit him. The county medical examiner testified the fatal bullet entered Doug's side, not his front as you might expect if he were attacking her. It entered here and landed here, so it was basically side to side. So he was not coming at her chest first. Doug's daughter Eva testified Ashley was sometimes volatile, blowing up if she didn't get her

way. Over time she tried to reprimand me a little bit more and kind of step into a motherly role. And I did not like that because it was so short after my mom passed away. Whenever she had a disagreement with you, how would she act? It was almost temper tantrum-like. Detective Chris Gillum worked in the Sheriff's Domestic Violence Unit. He'd been assigned Ashley's case. She started contacting me on a regular basis.

He testified that Ashley called him dozens of times over a three-month period. On one call, she demanded Doug be arrested at an upcoming family court hearing. She asked for me to arrest Doug when he came inside the courtroom in front of the presiding judge. Okay. And what was your reaction to that? That absolutely would not occur. She was upset. And at that point, I would call it a dramatic cry, hysterical cry, started happening. And she made a comment, something to the effect of,

if the judge sees you arrest him, this will help me keep my baby. When the detective told Ashley he had no reason to arrest Doug, he said she persisted. She let out like a screech or a high-pitched scream. And she says, I'll do whatever I have to do to keep my baby, you a-hole. Did that include shooting Doug Benefield? The defense was ready to fight back with a bold move. The defense calls Ashley Benefield.

Ashley, for the first time, was finally ready to tell her story and share her secrets. Doug was standing in the doorway. His face was red. Like the veins were bulging in his neck. He said, you're done. Ashley Benafield's attorney, Neil Taylor, stepped up to the podium to deliver his opening statement. His objective? To turn the trial on its head. I'm going to have some strong words about Douglas Benefield, the alleged victim.

You say he's an alleged victim. Correct. I believe he was the instigator. I believe he was the one who put Ashley in the position that compelled her to resort to self-defense and use deadly force. To back up his claim, he called this clinical social worker who counseled Doug and Ashley in 2020. Doug occurred as someone who was domineering and super-controlling. He would fit the stereotype of an alpha male.

Taylor then attacked what the state said was Ashley's motive. He challenged Detective Gillum's testimony, specifically that Ashley said she'd do whatever she had to to keep her baby. Gillum admitted that wasn't in his original report citing Ashley's complaints. It was only after Doug was killed, more than two years later, that Gillum documented it. Two and a half years later, you remember the details of the conversation.

Absolutely. And what exactly what she said, quotes, you quote her. Yes. The defense knew it would need to explain what went on inside that house the night of the shooting, but the only living eyewitness had barely said a word. The defense calls Ashley and Bennefield. Until Ashley rose to break her four-year silence and testify in her own defense.

This is the big moment in the trial. I think so. Ashley getting up on that stand and raising her right hand. Yes. I thought it would be a make or break moment. Neil Taylor introduced the jury to a different Ashley from the one the state had just portrayed. I believe in the importance of kindness and compassion. He then jumped right into her relationship with Doug. I believe in the importance of kindness and compassion. He then jumped right into her relationship with Doug. Describe for us the man you thought you'd married.

He was very loving and attentive. We loved a lot. And he made me feel very special and loved. Ashley said it wasn't long before cracks started appearing in Doug's charming sweet veneer. He started becoming very controlling and possessive. He started criticizing everything about me, like the way I would wear my hair, or did my makeup, or the way I dressed. Ashley told the jurors Doug's abuse continued and escalated.

He threw a chair at me. He accused me of having a thing for the pastor, and he said I was a slut and a whore. She next described a terrifying moment while she and Doug were still living together in Charleston. We were having an argument and it started getting really out of hand. He pulled the gun out and he was like waving it around and he pulled the trigger and he shot a hole in the ceiling in the kitchen. I nipple at the trigger and he shot a hole in the ceiling in the kitchen.

Ashley testified she wasn't the only one who had seen Doug's dark side. That there was a pattern to his abusive behavior. Just a few months into their marriage, she found disturbing text messages on one of Doug's old cell phones. The texts were from his late wife, Renee. I loved you, though, finding out you weren't really what you pretended to be. You kicking me so hard on New Year's Eve on our honeymoon. Doug's prior wife accused him of being violent. It mirrored the allegations that Ashley had made about Doug. The defense then moved on to the moment

everyone had been waiting for. What would Ashley say about the night of the shooting? She explained that Doug was with her at her mother's house, getting ready for the move to Maryland, and that his mood changed when they got into an argument over how to pack the truck. — And he got really offended and upset. Ashley told the jury that she tried to get Doug to leave, but it only made matters worse.

And he started screaming at me. He said, shut the f*** up. He said, I don't have to leave. I can stay. So Ashley said she tried to leave, but Doug wouldn't let her. He said, where the f*** do you think you're going? Then what happens? to leave, but Doug wouldn't let her. He's over the f***. Do you think you're going? Then what happens?

He hit me in the side of the head. She said she fled to her bedroom to escape. Why? Because I was scared. Did you have anything in your room that could protect you? I had my gun. Did you grab the gun? Yes.

His face was red. Like the veins were bulging in his neck. The way he was looking at me didn't even look like Doug. His eyes were black. He said, you're f***ing done. He started coming towards me. And then he lunged at me. And I started pulling the trigger.

Tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury why you shot Doug. I was scared to death. I thought he was going to kill me. As you sit here today, Ashley, how do you feel about what happened? Horrible. He's the father of my child. How do you think she did? I thought she did wonderful. Ashley successfully conveyed how volatile he was,

how fearful she was. Ashley took some time to compose herself, but she wasn't done. She was about to face a much more hostile inquisitor. I need to start the engine more hostile inquisitor. Ashley Benefield had just spent two emotional hours on the stand being questioned by her attorney. Prosecutor Suzanne O'Donnell didn't buy it. I didn't believe most of what she said.

I thought a lot of it was exaggerated. She acted emotional about things that I didn't... It just didn't seem genuine to me. What was your goal cross-examining her? Hopefully get the jury to see what I saw. I also wanted them to focus on what happened in that room. But first, O'Donnell needed to convince jurors that in the days leading up to the shooting, Ashley had no reason to fear Doug.

During this time, you're planning to move to Maryland. There's no violence going on. No. He's not hitting you. No ma'am. He's not choking you. No ma'am. He's not shoving you around.

No ma'am. I wanna get to the night that all this happened. You knew Doug was coming over. Yes. You invited him over. Yes. You weren't concerned about him coming over. No, I knew he was coming.

You weren't so afraid that you wanted your mother to stay there and watch. No, we were just packing to move. Okay, so you weren't afraid. your mother to stay there and watch? No, we were just packing to move. Okay, so you weren't afraid? I definitely didn't expect this to happen. The prosecutor then moved on to the moments right before Ashley pulled the trigger. You say he slapped you? He hit me.

Was his hand open or closed? I don't remember. And because of those things, you claim that you thought he was going to kill you. He had never hit me before. He wouldn't let me leave. I tried to leave. He stopped me. The question is, you thought he was going to kill you? Yeah. The question is, you thought he was going to kill you?

Prosecutors say there were times when they felt something was missing from Ashley's shaking and sobbing on the stand. I kept asking her, I said, I don't see any tears. Do you see any tears? O'Donnell didn't mention it in court. Instead, she tried a more subtle way to bring it to the jury's attention. Can we turn the lights up, please? You had someone in the courtroom turn the lights up? Oh yeah, I did do that. I mean, that's, wow, I have never heard that before in any of the cases that I've covered on Dateline. And did she have any tears? No, not one.

The prosecutor then asked Ashley to step off the stand and reenact what she said compelled her to use deadly force. It was scary. Did he have his hands in fists? Not at that point. They were like, I don't know. Was he coming at you like this? When he lunged at me, he came very quickly. Okay, so he lunged. Was his fist up when he lunged? I don't remember. How do you think she did with the reenactment?

This was the one time to tell everyone what scared you so badly that you felt like you had to take this man's life. And we got hardly any information. In her closing, Suzanne O'Donnell asked the jury not to be swayed by Ashley's performance. Did you ever see one tear come out of her eye? Did you ever see one drop of liquid? One red eye?

One swollen eye? That goes to her credibility. I've presented to you everything that I possibly could to show you that her action in using deadly force was reasonable. Jurors left the courtroom to deliberate. They could find Ashley guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or they could set her free. Six hours later, a note to the judge.

The jury was deadlocked. Remember the jury, I've received a note from you that says unable to come to unanimous verdict. You've put your heart and soul into this case and then you hear that. It was heartbreaking to say the least if they were in fact going towards being hung. One of the biggest fears for us was a mistrial. It was 10 p.m. The judge asked the jury to keep trying and just one hour later a verdict.

Guilty of manslaughter. Not guilty of second-degree murder. What's Ashley's reaction in that moment? She feels crushed. You're talking also about a mother with a six-year-old child. Was justice served? Absolutely. Absolutely it was. David says Doug's daughter Eva feels the same way. After the verdict, she spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. I apologize to all the women who have gone through domestic violence situations.

I think that what Ashley was doing was unfair to them. They deserve justice, and I'm very happy that my dad got the justice that he deserves. Ashley Benefield left the courtroom in handcuffs. The former ballerina who once had big dreams now faces up to 30 years behind bars. She will be sentenced next month. As for Emerson, now without either parent, she's being cared for by Ashley's mother. The sad irony, the custody battle continues. No child can go from their mother and their grandmother to our family in a single step, but we want to be a part of the child's life.

What would you tell her about her father if she was someday watching this? I would tell her that she had the greatest dad that she could ever have imagined and that he truly loved her. Come on, baby, come on. Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Come on, baby.

That's all for this edition of Dateline, and check out our Talking Dateline podcast. Andrea Canning and Blaine Alexander will go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the Dateline feed wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you again next Friday at 9, 8 Central. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.