Jade Benning's final call alleges Blaise Taylor poisoned drink

A Nashville Date Night Ends in Tragedy and Suspicion

On the night of February 25, 2023, outside Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, Blaise Taylor stood answering police questions about how a routine evening had curdled into a medical emergency. According to CBS News, Taylor told authorities that 24-year-old Jade Benning had simply started to feel unwell while they were together. Benning, a professional chef who was nearly six months pregnant with a baby girl they planned to name Ivy, had been planning a quiet evening at her apartment cooking dinner and painting pictures.

BREAKING: After a little less than three hours of deliberations, a jury found Blaise Taylor, a former pro football scout, guilty on all counts. Taylor was convicted in the deaths of his girlfriend, Jade Benning, and their unborn child. Taylor faces a possible life sentence. pic.twitter.com/EJ9SM1XBdI

— https://x.com/CourtTV/status/2072404492096598360

Instead, minutes after taking selfies, the young culinary professional was rushed to the hospital unresponsive, setting off a complex legal and investigative ordeal that continues to draw national attention. Policy Wire reported that the case centers on a chilling final phone call prosecutors argue casts profound doubt on the former Tennessee Titans assistant football scout.

The Final Phone Call and the Missing Minutes

As Benning’s health deteriorated rapidly, she managed to reach her childhood best friend, Nijaiha Jackson, by phone. According to statements laid out by Nashville Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman, Benning made a frantic call during which she accused Taylor of putting something into her drink, noting that it tasted “funny.” The conversation lasted a little more than six minutes before Jackson heard Benning’s voice fade and the line disconnect.

Before that call, Taylor had contacted his father—a college football coach—during a thirty-second phone conversation after Benning began spitting up and shaking. His father instructed him to immediately dial 911. When emergency responders arrived, they found Benning face down on her bed with no pulse. She was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where doctors later informed her mother, Bridget Benning Burks, that her daughter had gone approximately 45 minutes without oxygen, leaving her brain dead.

The tragedy claimed two lives. Because Benning was 24 weeks pregnant, the extended period without oxygen meant the unborn child could not survive.

Conflicting Accounts and Independent Investigation

In the immediate aftermath, police spoke with Taylor, who cooperated at the hospital. However, tension mounted between the two families as days passed without clear answers. Benning learned she was pregnant in November 2022.

Nashville Chef’s Last Call Raises Doubts in Ex-Football Scout’s Murder Trial — Photo: policy-wire.com

Lab results from blood and urine samples taken at the hospital later tested positive for cocaine, a finding that stunned Benning’s family, who maintained she had stopped using substances once she learned she was pregnant. As legal proceedings unfold, the case remains a sobering examination of a relationship that unraveled in a Nashville apartment, leaving grieving families searching for accountability.