Transcript

Jade Benning's Final Call | Full Episode

From 48 Hours · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 42 min · 4,894 words · 58 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Jade Benning's Final Call | Full Episode", an episode of 48 Hours published November 3, 2026 (42 min, about 4,894 words). It mentions 20 people, works and ideas, including Blaise Taylor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 48 Hours, cocaethylene.

What this episode is about

A recount of the events surrounding Jade Benning’s fatal night in February 2023, detailing Jade’s warnings about Blaise Taylor, the mysterious poisoning claim, and the ensuing investigation as her friend and Blaise confront what happened outside Vanderbilt Medical Center. The summary highlights Jade’s concerns about Blaise, the suspected poisoning, and the quest to uncover the truth.

Key takeaways

  • A date-night narrative crashed by mystery: personality traits don’t predict peril, emotions do.
  • From prince charming to medical emergency: spotlight on how assumptions can mask a crisis’s gravity.
  • Blaise’s background paints virtue—but a single night reveals fragility of trust and timing.
  • News value hinges on clarity: timelines, witnesses, and forensic detail sharpen truth over rumor.
  • Pregnancy, ambition, and unexpected danger intersect; human stories outpace headlines in impact.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Blaise Taylor, Tennessee Titans, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville
  2. – 10:00: Nashville, Little Rock, Blaise Taylor, Tennessee Titans
  3. – 15:00: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Texas
  4. – 20:00: Utah, Blaise Taylor, Nashville, Blink
  5. – 25:00: Blaise Taylor, Davidson County, Roger Moore
  6. – 30:00: Blaise Taylor, Davidson County, Arkansas State University
  7. – 35:00: cocaethylene, fentanyl, Blaise Taylor
  8. – 40:00: Blaise Taylor

Notable quotes from "Jade Benning's Final Call | Full Episode"

  • 48 Hours correspondent Natalie Morales reports.
    about 48 Hours · at
  • ♪♪ ♪♪ -On the night of February 25th, 2023, outside Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Blaise Taylor was answering police questions about how a date turned into a medical emergency.
    about Vanderbilt University Medical Center · at
  • She was captain of the squad at her high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, and cheered in competitions.
    about Little Rock · at
  • Blaise Taylor was well known to people in Arkansas who followed college football, a former standout defensive back and top student who had earned a scholarship to Arkansas State University.
    about Arkansas State University · at
  • Blaise Taylor was arrested, facing murder charges for killing Jade and her unborn child.
    about Blaise Taylor · at
  • Davidson County prosecutors Jan Norman, Roger Moore, and Kendall Ponchillia needed to convince the jury that Blaise Taylor intentionally poisoned Jade Benning and that he…
    about Davidson County · at
  • The defense presented medical experts who testified about a substance called cocaethylene, formed when cocaine and alcohol are combined.
    about cocaethylene · at
  • Because that comforter got put in a bag, it got put in the back of someone's car.
    about fentanyl · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Blaise Taylor — Person · Defendant / Central figure · 18 mentions · first at
    Accused, tried and convicted in the death of Jade Benning and her unborn child; central to the episode's narrative and legal conflict between families.
  • Natalie Morales — Person · Correspondent / Reporter · 3 mentions · first at
    Named as the reporter for the '48 Hours' episode in the episode context; likely the on-air correspondent telling the story.
    48 Hours correspondent Natalie Morales reports.
  • Dennis Browning — Person · Father of Jade / Family member · 1 mention · first at
    Spoke about Jade's personality and role as a bridge-builder in family; provided background and emotional context.
    Dennis Browning, Jade's dad, says she has always been about bringing people together, even her own parents, after her mom, Bridget Benning Burks, and her dad divorced.
  • Roger Moore — Person · Prosecutor · 1 mention · first at
    Listed as one of the Davidson County prosecutors involved in the case against Blaise Taylor.
    Davidson County prosecutors Jan Norman, Roger Moore, and Kendall Ponchillia needed to convince the jury that Blaise Taylor intentionally poisoned Jade Benning and that he…

Companies & orgs

  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center — Company · Medical setting / Hospital where victim was treated · 2 mentions · first at
    Hospital in Nashville where Jade was taken, pronounced brain dead and kept on life support; source of medical findings referenced in the case.
  • CBS News — Company · Distributor / Broadcaster · 4 mentions · first at
    Parent network of the '48 Hours' program that produced and distributed this episode.
  • Tennessee Titans — Company · Employer (relevant background) · 3 mentions · first at
    Blaise worked as an assistant football scout for the Tennessee Titans at the time he met Jade; used to establish his professional profile.
    Jade Benning started that night with the hope of strengthening her relationship with Blaise Taylor, then a 26-year-old assistant football scout for the Tennessee Titans.
  • Arkansas State University — Company · Educational affiliation · 2 mentions · first at
    Where Blaise attended and played football and where Apple Dennie and Blaise met; establishes background and earlier relationships.
  • Pluto TV — Company · Distribution partner · 3 mentions · first at
    Platform where full episodes of '48 Hours' are available; mentioned in episode context for viewing availability.
    Watch more full episodes of 48 Hours on Pluto TV.
  • Duke University — Company · Past employer / Affiliation · 1 mention · first at
    One of Blaise's previous coaching/assistant jobs (context for his football career and background).
    Blaise then moved to Nashville for that scouting job with the Tennessee Titans, where he was working when he met Jade.
  • Paramount+ — Company · Platform promotion mention · 3 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in episode context as an option to try Paramount+ free — marketing/availability detail tied to the episode description.

Products & tech

  • Blink — Product · Home security camera mentioned as evidence · 1 mention · first at
    A Blink camera in Jade's apartment was observed moved from the kitchen to the bedroom; friends moved it back and prosecutors investigated its recordings (none usable).
    I see that the cameras in the corner and the camera was never there.

Concepts & topics

  • cocaethylene — Concept · Forensic toxicology concept · 2 mentions · first at
    A metabolite formed when cocaine and alcohol are combined; its presence and levels were discussed as part of defense theory about cause of death.
  • fentanyl — Concept · Forensic evidence topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Trace fentanyl was found on the comforter; defense used that finding to raise questions about contamination and alternate explanations for death.

Places & events

  • Nashville — Place · Setting · 6 mentions · first at
    Primary location where the incident, hospital care (Vanderbilt) and the trial took place; frames the jurisdiction and community context.
    ♪♪ ♪♪ -On the night of February 25th, 2023, outside Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Blaise Taylor was answering police questions about how a date turned into a medical emergency.
  • Davidson County — Place · Jurisdiction · 2 mentions · first at
    County where the medical examiner and prosecutors are based and where the trial occurred; context for legal proceedings.
  • Little Rock — Place · Origin / Background · 2 mentions · first at
    Jade's hometown where she grew up, cheered in high school and which provides background on her life prior to Nashville.
  • Utah — Place · Setting (post-incident movement) · 2 mentions · first at
    Place where Blaise moved to for a job after Jade's death and where he was arrested in a parking lot before being returned to Nashville for trial.
    After Jade died, Blaise was offered a college football analyst job in Utah and decided to move.
  • Texas — Place · Origin of Blaise's family travel · 1 mention · first at
    Blaise's parents traveled from Texas to Nashville after Jade's collapse; provides family geographic context.
    My dad immediately grabbed all of our hands, and we just prayed for Jade, for Blaise, for the child.

Media & podcasts

  • 48 Hours — Media · Broadcast / Episode producer · 5 mentions · first at
    The series that produced and aired this investigative episode telling the story of Jade's death and the trial of Blaise Taylor.

Full transcript with timestamps

♪♪ ♪♪ -On February 25th, 2023, my best friend, Jade Benning, was saying that she was going to plan a date night for her and Blaise. She was going to make him dinner. -What did she tell you about Blaise Taylor? -She told me that he was different from her typical type, quiet, a little bit more reserved. He seemed to be very sweet, very kind-hearted, and she just made it seem like he was like this Prince Charming kind of guy. -Star athlete. Scholar. -Uh-huh. -Recruiting for the Tennessee Titans, so he had a good job.

-Uh-huh. I knew she had this date night, but I was hungry, and I called her and I was like, "Hey, like, is Blaise there?" And she's like, "Yeah." And I was like, "Okay, well, I hope he's not mad, but, like, I'm just gonna come by and get some food. I promise I'll be quick and leave." And she's, like, giggling. She's like, "Okay, like, all right." I probably stay for maybe 15, 30 minutes. She was smiling and happy. And then maybe, like, an hour later is when I got the phone call from Jade. It was almost like a butt-dial.

That's kind of how it felt to me. And I immediately hear, like, "What did you do? What did you put in my drink? I knew my drink tasted funny." She's asking him to empty his pockets. She was like, "Blaise, like, you're scaring me." She's saying she's about to pass out. [ Voice breaking ] At this point, I'm scared. I don't really understand what's going on. So I'm on the way to her apartment. [ Doorbell chimes ]

-Then I get there, and she is already in the back of the ambulance. And I'm asking Blaise, like, "What did you do? Like, what happened?" He's like, "I didn't do anything, I didn't do anything." -My son, Blaise Taylor, he was the only person that called 911.

-There's no reason that he would have any reason to want to hurt her. -[ Normal voice ] My best friend called me for a reason, and I'm going to make sure we figure out what happened. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -On the night of February 25th, 2023, outside Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Blaise Taylor was answering police questions about how a date turned into a medical emergency. -We were together on a date night. -Authorities wanted to know what happened to 24-year-old Jade Benning, who had been rushed to the hospital, arriving unresponsive.

-Jade Benning started that night with the hope of strengthening her relationship with Blaise Taylor, then a 26-year-old assistant football scout for the Tennessee Titans. Jade, a professional chef, was planning a special night at her apartment, cooking dinner to be followed by painting pictures. But as the evening progressed, just minutes after taking these selfies, Jade fell ill. Blaise said she was spitting up and shaking. Unsure what to do, he first called his father. -Being in sports and things, a lot of times, you know, they would go to their dad.

-Evi Taylor, Blaise's mother, said their children would often contact their father, a college football coach, with medical questions. -He would be on the field, like, if somebody got hurt, he would be the first one there. -Blaise's call with his dad lasted 30 seconds. He told his son to immediately call 911, which Blaise did.

-EMT responders found Jade lying face down on her bed with no pulse. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital. By then, Jade's best friend, Nijaiha Jackson, had returned to Jade's apartment only to learn Jade was unresponsive. -[ Voice breaking ] She has to be okay. I just saw her an hour ago. -Just an hour earlier, Jade was her usual lively self. She was known, says her family and friends, for being spirited, traits on display in cheerleading. She was captain of the squad at her high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, and cheered in competitions.

-Jade was very much a bridge builder. -Dennis Browning, Jade's dad, says she has always been about bringing people together, even her own parents, after her mom, Bridget Benning Burks, and her dad divorced. -She was always putting out the fire. -Let's cook. -She moved from Little Rock to Nashville to pursue her career and her dream of owning a restaurant. -She was close to doing it. -When did you start to hear the name Blaise Taylor? -It wasn't long after she moved there. She told me that she had met this person, and my husband's big into sports, so he knew exactly who he was.

-Blaise Taylor was well known to people in Arkansas who followed college football, a former standout defensive back and top student who had earned a scholarship to Arkansas State University. -You know, when he got to college, he got his bachelor's and his master's in business in three and a half years while playing football and starting his own nonprofit. -Blaise was all about helping people, not hurting them, says his family. He and his sister star while students at Arkansas State started a foundation providing educational opportunities for children.

-He's always been really passionate about community service and giving back. -After college, Blaise went on to an assistant coaching job at Duke. Blaise then moved to Nashville for that scouting job with the Tennessee Titans, where he was working when he met Jade. -He mentioned her name once, maybe going on a date or something, and he just said that she was a chef, and that's all I knew about her. -Jade and Blaise's relationship had been a casual one, with each seeing other people. Then in November 2022, about three months into dating, Jade called her mom with surprising news.

-She said, "Hold on, I got to send you a picture to look at." And so she texted a picture, and it was a pregnancy test positive. -And she goes, "You're gonna be a grandpa." And that's when I asked her. I said, "Well, who's the father?" -She told her parents it was Blaise. Jade learned she was having a girl and chose the name Ivy for the baby. By the time of that date night, Jade was nearly six months pregnant. Those paintings Jade planned for that night were meant for Ivy's room. Jade's creation included the words "love" and "hope."

But hope turned to horror when Nijaiha received that call from Jade, where she says Jade was accusing Blaise of putting something into her drink. -It just sounded like something I'd never heard before, and she just sounded scared. -The call lasted a little more than six minutes. Nijaiha says Jade's voice faded at the end, and then the call was disconnected. As Nijaiha raced to Jade's apartment to figure out what was going on, she called Bridget. -To have this responsibility to tell my best friend's mom that something is wrong.

Having to explain to her mom, police, the doctors, all these things that I only I heard, and leading them to believe me because I knew that my friend was -- needed help. -Nijaiha and Blaise separately followed the ambulance to the hospital. Once there, Nijaiha repeated what she heard on that call from Jade to anyone who would listen, including law enforcement and medical staff. Meanwhile, Bridget traveled all night to Nashville to be with her daughter. Bridget says she kept calling Jade's phone. -Finally, after probably the third time calling, he answered.

I was like, "What have you done to my child?" ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Bridget knew her daughter, Jade Benning, was in critical condition, but when she arrived at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she realized just how dire the situation had become. -They told me that she had gone approximately 45 minutes without oxygen. -I knew... -Jade was brain dead. She was hooked up to life support, put in ICU, and any hope of even communicating with her daughter to learn what happened was gone. -And what about the baby? What were the doctors saying?

-Well, the baby at this time was 24 weeks. And if Jade went an extended time without oxygen, the baby went the same. And a baby at 24 weeks wouldn't have a chance. -Amid their sorrow, Jade's family and friends were searching for answers as to how a healthy 24-year-old could now be in this state. Still, there was that phone call Jade made where Nijaiha said she heard Jade accuse Blaise of putting something in her drink. As Blaise at the hospital too with you? Are you seeing him? -No, actually, when they moved her to ICU, he was told that he needed to leave.

And at that time, they placed her under an alias name for her protection. The only people that had access to her were her parents. -Police had spoken to Blaise, who cooperated several times earlier that night at the hospital. Aside from what Nijaiha said, she heard on that call, which was not recorded, there was no proof that Blaise harmed Jade, and it was Blaise, remember, who had contacted 911. Blaise's parents were concerned and traveled from Texas to Nashville to be with him. -And of course, you know, worried about her, and, you know, she's pregnant.

And is she going to be okay? Is the baby going to be okay? -In the days that followed, Blaise and his family say they were cut off from receiving updates about Jade's condition. Jade's family says they also were not receiving information they wanted from police about next steps into the investigation. -As a parent, you know you want answers, like, right now, you know, what happened? What are you going to do? -They thought authorities weren't moving fast enough. It wasn't just the phone call their daughter had made.

There were also conversations months earlier where Jade had told them Blaise was unhappy at the prospect of becoming a dad. -She told me that he didn't want to have anything to do with the baby. -Nijaiha and others say that Blaise at one point even suggested to Jade she terminate the pregnancy. -Kind of gave her an ultimatum on either get an abortion or you're risking this being over between you and I. -Jade made it clear to Blaise she wanted the baby and was fine to do it without him. For a while, their relationship cooled off.

Jade's family, though, was more than ready to help out. -We was very excited. -Lyn Burks, Jade's stepdad, had been looking forward to having a grandchild no matter the circumstance. -If he didn't want anything to do with it, we was okay with that. We wasn't going to ask for one thing from him. -Her family says Jade told them to keep the pregnancy quiet, per Blaise's instructions, but Evi Taylor says Blaise did tell people, including his family, in December 2022. -He just told us that that she was pregnant. So I think it was a difficult conversation because obviously they had a casual relationship.

-Evi said they discussed a paternity test to be performed after the baby was born, to confirm that Blaise was the father. Still, his family was supportive. -My dad immediately grabbed all of our hands, and we just prayed for Jade, for Blaise, for the child. -Then on New Year's Eve 2022, Blaise reached out to Jade. They started dating again. Now, with Jade on life support, her family and Nijaiha questioned Blaise's motives for reconnecting back then, wondering if he had been planning something nefarious. Despite expressing their concerns about Blaise to police, Jade's apartment had yet to be sealed off as a potential crime scene.

-I was just like, "I know what I heard, and something needs to be done. Like, we need to go to her apartment." -So just one day after Jade was admitted to the hospital, Nijaiha and three friends decided to investigate on their own. They went to Jade's apartment and recorded this video. -I got some gloves from the hospital, and I told everybody to put them on, and we went into the apartment and we started recording upon entry. -Did you worry at all that I could be hindering the police investigation? I might be contaminating the scene?

-Honestly, at that time, no. -When the group entered Jade's bedroom, Nijaiha said she noticed something out of place. -I see that the cameras in the corner and the camera was never there. -Nijaiha said she had seen the Blink security camera in the kitchen when she left the apartment earlier the night Jade became ill. She wondered if Blaise moved the camera so it would not record him putting something in Jade's drink. -So I moved the camera back to the kitchen. I wanted it back where it was in case he came back, for whatever reason. -While in the apartment, they noticed vomit on Jade's comforter.

Thinking it might be important, they put it in a garbage bag to bring to Bridget. The next day, police did secure the scene and did their own search, collecting drinks and other items to be tested. Bridget also gave police the comforter. At the hospital, now, two days after being admitted, results from Jade's lab work were coming back. -That's when the positive results came back in her blood and in her urine. -Positive results for... -Cocaine. -Cocaine, something doctors said might explain Jade's condition. -Was cocaine ever something that she had tried as far as you knew?

-No. Never. -Never. -Jade's parents and friends knew she sometimes used marijuana and would drink. But they say once Jade learned she was pregnant, that stopped. For days, Jade had been kept on life support. Now, the family had a heartbreaking decision to make -- when to remove the equipment. -We talked, and with it being so close to her birthday, we were like, our wishes are to wait until her birthday. -On March 6th, 2023, on what would have been Jade's 25th birthday, life support was stopped. -When she died, a part of me did, too.

-Five months later, Jade's autopsy was completed, finding she died from acute cocaine toxicity, with the cocaine having been ingested. While cocaine had been identified in her system in the hospital, the levels revealed in the autopsy were extraordinarily high and, according to the medical examiner, rarely seen, more than seven times what is typically found in fatal cocaine overdoses. -Which is, like, off the chart. -What did that tell you, Bridget, in that moment? -That he did something. He didn't want the baby, so he ultimately put something in her drink that took her life.

-The manner of death, though, was listed as could not be determined, not as homicide. There was no evidence Blaise bought any drugs, and no drugs were found in the drinks police took from Jade's apartment. The one place cocaine was identified was in the vomit stain on that comforter. Still, Jade's family and friends were convinced Blaise poisoned Jade, putting cocaine into her drink. -I think he had an image he wanted to uphold. You know, being this picture-perfect person. I guess he felt like, you know, having a child would somehow tarnish that.

-After Jade died, Blaise was offered a college football analyst job in Utah and decided to move. -It was kind of like a coaching assistant, and that was like a step up in his career, you know, where he'd actually be on the field with the players. -To Jade's family, the man responsible for killing their daughter and her unborn baby was living his life while they were waiting for him to be held responsible.

-Then, after a year of investigating Jade's death, on March 14th, 2024, in a store parking lot in Utah... -Blaise Taylor was arrested, facing murder charges for killing Jade and her unborn child. He was brought back to Nashville, and the Taylor family worked to have him released, a month later, on a $2.5 million bond. -Did he have any reason to try to hurt Jade or the unborn child? -Because he did not want to become a father? -Absolutely not. I mean, we already knew that she was pregnant. He has a job, so there's no reason.

-And there's no evidence, says Blaise Taylor's defense attorney. -There was absolutely nothing that tied Blaise Taylor to the drugs that caused the death of Ms. Benning and her unborn child. Nothing. ♪♪

-For two families who define justice differently, the stakes were high as Blaise Taylor in June of 2026 went on trial for the murders of Jade Benning and her unborn child. Davidson County prosecutors Jan Norman, Roger Moore, and Kendall Ponchillia needed to convince the jury that Blaise Taylor intentionally poisoned Jade Benning and that he thought he could get away with it, but his plan was foiled by that call Jade made to Nijaiha. -We all agree that his plan was to poison her with the liquid cocaine and then to leave her there.

-And that phone call totally disrupted what could theoretically have been the perfect murder. -And so Nijaiha was the key witness for the prosecution, describing to the jury what she says she heard on that call from Jade.

-What do you make of that call? -I can't make heads or tails of it. -Letitia Quinones-Hollins, one of Blaise Taylor's defense attorneys, has doubts about that call, since it was not recorded and only relies on what Nijaiha says she heard. -Think about your very best friend, and you hear that she is in danger. Do you call 911 to get her help? -That was a question she asked Nijaiha during cross-examination.

-Nijaiha also testified about that visit to Jade's apartment with friends to undertake their own investigation before police secured the scene. She spoke about taking those precautions, wearing gloves, videotaping the process and about moving the camera from the bedroom to its usual spot in the kitchen and taking the comforter.

-For the defense, the fact that the friends moved the camera and took the comforter raised questions about the integrity of the scene and evidence. -Nothing usable was recovered from the camera. Because Jade's death involved a drug, prosecutors knew this was something they would have to address.

-But the state argued that when Jade learned she was pregnant, her drinking and marijuana use stopped and that she was not known to use cocaine. -The defense also questioned Nijaiha about this. It felt like they were tainting Jade's character and her image as well as mine. To have to defend myself and her was, like, very jarring. -Nobody, including myself, wants to victim blame. But at the same time, what we are talking about here is a drug overdose. Whether it was accidental, whether it was intentional. That's what we were there to determine.

-Throughout the trial, the defense contrasted Jade's history with drugs to that of Blaise. -The only person that had experience and connection with drugs between the two of them was Ms. Benning. And it wasn't just her past. -Evidence was presented that earlier the same day Jade collapsed, she had a text conversation with someone identified in her phone as Danny (Weed Guy), a drug dealer, asking, "Hey, my coworker wants to get a half from you." -Every single text message to Danny Weed after she found out she was pregnant.

There's a corresponding text message every single time that it was not for Jade's use. -There was no evidence that the request was for Jade, nor that they ever met that day. Only the message with Danny Weed responding, "Bet I got you when I get back." -Was Danny Weed called as a witness at all? Just to clear any of this up or to testify? -No, because Jade did not die from marijuana use. Jade died from acute cocaine toxicity. -But for the defense, any interaction between Jade and a drug dealer should have been investigated more thoroughly.

-He was not considered a witness for the prosecution, and he did not want to talk with us. But he was never spoken to by the police. -The state argued this was all about liquid cocaine as a murder weapon, nothing else. Dr. Erin Carney, a medical examiner for Davidson County, testified that the levels of cocaine found in Jade's system were rarely seen.

-To try to help the jury get to that homicide determination, the prosecution was going to call a witness from Blaise Taylor's past. -We were going to ask her to do something that, in our opinion, was a very big deal to testify about things that were so incredibly personal.

♪♪ -When I first met Blaise Taylor, he seemed very smart and he just was really charming. -Apple Dennie met Blaise Taylor at Arkansas State in 2016 when she was a freshman, and he was an upperclassman. They dated on and off for a few years. Apple says she eventually saw a different side of Blaise. -Calculated and controlling and willing to do whatever it takes to maintain an image. -That Blaise Taylor was the one Apple Dennie would testify about as a crucial prosecution witness. She told the jury that Jade Benning was not the first woman Blaise got pregnant.

She said that while she was dating Blaise in 2017, he admitted to reconnecting with a former girlfriend when he thought he and Apple were on a break. And there was more. -Blaise, says Apple, was seeking her help. Apple had been in the same situation with him a few months earlier when she became pregnant with Blaise's baby.

-Apple says that decision was solely her own, and that Blaise was supportive, going with her to appointments. But this other woman told Blaise she might want the baby. -What did Blaise ask you to do when he came forward and told you that he had gotten another woman pregnant? -He was asking if I could get the abortion pills and give them to him so he could give them to her without her knowing. -Apple testified about that conversation.

-No evidence was presented that Blaise got a pill. Ultimately, the other woman terminated her pregnancy. Apple and Blaise stayed together on and off until 2019, when the relationship ended. She says she hadn't given Blaise much thought until years later when she heard about what happened to Jade Benning. Apple and Jade's mom, Bridget, connected. Apple was then put in touch with authorities. -So when you hear the circumstances surrounding Jade Benning's death, what do you think happened to Jade? -I think that he carried out a plan that he had thought about years ago.

-Her testimony to me came across as a woman spurned. -Jim Sanders, one of Blaise Taylor's defense lawyers, questions Apple's motivation to testify. The defense says Apple's own words about her past with Blaise paint a different story. -There were actual journals and things of that nature where she talked about what an amazing individual he was, what a positive impact he made on her life. -Apple doesn't deny she once viewed Blaise fondly, but says she had no motive to reveal details of her personal life on the stand.

-I'm telling everyone that I had an abortion, and that was probably one of the worst parts about it, is having to deal with people thinking these things about me and having to revisit all of that. -The defense contends Apple's testimony should never have been allowed by the court. -That testimony from Apple Dennie was more than highly prejudicial, and it was clearly inadmissible. You cannot use character evidence or evidence of a bad act to prove the case. -Would it show, though, a certain pattern of behavior? -Well, where's the pattern here?

-We're talking about according to Ms, Dennie, what he said, not what he did. What he said. -Apple Dennie was one of the last witnesses for the state. The defense's focus turned to the reliability of Jade's lab results and questions about what actually caused her death.

-The defense presented medical experts who testified about a substance called cocaethylene, formed when cocaine and alcohol are combined. It was found in Jade's lab results. -Ethanol is alcohol. The defense argued it only would have been present if Jade was drinking alcohol when she ingested cocaine, and perhaps that combination, not cocaine alone, killed her. -The defense made a real big deal about that. Jade could have been using alcohol, that Jade mixed these two together, and there was absolutely no proof that Jade had a sip of alcohol once she found out she was pregnant.

-The state contends that the level of cocaethylene was so small it was below a reportable unit, and it offered another explanation for its presence. One involving Blaise. -He could have very easily have dissolved the cocaine in a small amount of alcohol. -But there was another drug known to be deadly found on her comforter. Fentanyl. The defense suggested that Jade had to be using fentanyl or taken something laced with fentanyl for it to be there. -How is that not considered when we're talking about the causation of death?

-How could that even be explained? This finding of fentanyl on a comforter, if she never used fentanyl. -Because that comforter got put in a bag, it got put in the back of someone's car. Then it gets given to the police. Everyone makes every precaution about not contaminating evidence, but things happen. We also have the medics that were in there. It's a trace amount, which is consistent with it just touching something that it shouldn't have. -But according to the defense, there is simply not enough evidence to prove what killed Jade.

And it says whatever killed her did not involve Blaise Taylor. -He called 911. He followed the ambulance to the hospital. He talked to the police whenever they asked him a question. Not the act of a guilty guy. -To the prosecution, those are the acts of someone guilty trying to look innocent. -Jade Bening absolutely named Blaise Taylor as the person who put something in her drink, and her words are direct evidence that he did it. -And that would be up to the jury to decide.

♪♪ -After seven days of testimony in Blaise Taylor's murder trial, attorneys presented their closing arguments. For the state, it ended much the way it began, referencing that call Jade Bening made to her friend Nijaiha Jackson. -The prosecution dismissed the defense theories that other drugs were involved, saying this was solely about cocaine.

-The defense argued that the state did not have enough evidence to even classify Jade's death a homicide, let alone point to Blaise as her killer. And as for Jade's final phone call, jurors were reminded those details relied solely on Nijaiha's recollection.

-In terms of a motive, the defense insisted there was none. I thought that we were going to be okay. -But it's always scary when your life is in the hands of 12 people that don't know you. -As the case went to the jury, each family held on to hope. -We had prepared ourselves to be there for a while. We were sitting on pins and needles. -The wait would not be long. -After about two hours of deliberating, there was a verdict.

-Blaise Taylor was found guilty of four counts second-degree murder of Jade Benning, first-degree premeditated murder of an unborn child, and two counts of felony murder. He received two life sentences to be served consecutively. -Hearing that verdict, take me back to that moment for you. -Relief. Like a weight lifted. That this would never be done to anybody else by him. -I heard guilty, and then I don't -- I think I was just, like, everything just kind of, like, blacked out after that. And that feeling as a parent, you know, that you feel like there's no hope.

It's the worst feeling when you can't, when you can't help your son. -They didn't prove he was guilty. An innocent man got convicted. -Blaise Taylor's defense team and family are working on an appeal. -I want to make sure that we, as well as the attorneys, continue to fight for his innocence because he didn't do this. -For Jade's family, the verdict did bring justice, but the void left in their lives by Jade's death and that of Ivy, her unborn child, will never be filled. They try to celebrate Jade in big and small ways.

Their arms have tattoos of butterflies, which Jade loved. And at what would have been Jade's ten-year high school reunion... -I feel the love. I definitely feel the love that they had for her. -...Jade's classmates, including her best friend Nijaiha, remembered the special life lost. -There's, like, a hole knowing that she isn't here. -Jade's family brought balloons for the class to release... -One, two, three. -...as a way to honor their daughter. -She touched so many people. You know, I think about her daily. -She's always with me.

I always wonder just what life would have been like to become a grandma. The rest of life will be what would have been.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Jade Benning's Final Call | Full Episode"?

Jade Benning, Blaise Taylor, Nijaiha Jackson (Guest), Bridget Benning (Guest), Evi Taylor (Guest), Dennis Browning (Guest), Letitia Quinones-Hollins (Guest), Apple Dennie (Guest).

What is "Jade Benning's Final Call | Full Episode" about?

A recount of the events surrounding Jade Benning’s fatal night in February 2023, detailing Jade’s warnings about Blaise Taylor, the mysterious poisoning claim, and the ensuing investigation as her friend and Blaise confront what happened outside Vanderbilt Medical Center. The summary highlights Jade’s concerns about Blaise, the suspected poisoning, and the quest to uncover the truth.

What is mentioned in this 48 Hours episode?

20 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Blaise Taylor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 48 Hours, cocaethylene, fentanyl. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Jade Benning's Final Call | Full Episode"?

The episode runs 42 min; the transcript is about 4,894 words in 58 timestamped sections.

More from 48 Hours

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated November 5, 2026.