The true story of Ashley Benefield
What started out as a seemingly picture perfect marriage from the pages of a fairytale, quickly turned into a nightmare - this is the true story of Ashley Benefield.
This page is to help spread truth and stop the lies that have been propagated by the victim shaming media.
Stand with us as we stand for truth. It is time that we band together to believe victims to put a stop to domestic violence.
A whirlwind romance
Doug and Ashley Benefield
When Ashley met Doug, it was a whirlwind romance that swept her off her feet, but in the months that followed, the newly wed couple was hiding a dark secret.
Things escalated quickly from coercive control and verbal abuse, to threats and physical acts, abuse, and violence towards Ashley and their pets…
Sully the family dog
Doug’s text after he punched Sully
Snuffy the family cat
When he hit, kicked, and punched the dog and threw the family cat… Doug used his abuse of their pets as a means to hurt and control Ashley.
Doug’s text after more animal abuse
Doug’s unrelenting jealousy turned into even more extreme possessive and controlling behaviors that further isolated Ashley from the outside world.
One of Doug’s messages to Ashley
Tensions were building at home as Doug’s violence continued to escalate
Doug, his daughter and Ashley
In a new state away from all of her family and friends, Ashley was isolated and quickly found her whole world unraveling before her eyes as she tried to cling onto the hope for a happy future with Doug and his daughter.
Holes Doug punched in the walls of their home
He told her she was lucky he punched the walls and not her…
Ashley was walking on eggshells never sure of what would set him off
But it didn’t stop there….
Bullet lodged in the ceiling of their home
Doug’s anger and aggression continued to escalate until one day he pulled a gun during an argument.
Which according to Doug, was nothing new…. Since he admitted to pulling a gun on his previous wife, Renee more than once.
Close up of a bullet hole shot by Doug
Doug testified that his actions that day were done to make Ashley ‘Shut up’
‘Mission accomplished’ he said, recalling the incident during sworn testimony at his 2018 deposition
Doug and Ashley smiling in public
To the world, Ashley and Doug’s relationship had a picture perfect outward appearance….
But behind closed doors, Ashley silently struggled with a terrifying reality.
Through pregnancy, separation, court hearings, make ups and break ups…. Doug continued to relentlessly pursue Ashley.
Her story doesn’t stop there, and neither did Doug’s violence towards her.
Manatee County Court House
Doug repeatedly violated a no-contact order which ultimately led to law enforcement sending several charges over to the State Attorney to prosecute….
Charges that could have resulted in Doug spending many years behind bars…
Manatee County Sheriffs - Victim Advocate Division letter to Ashley
After several months of waiting, with another injunction hearing on the docket, the State Attorney dropped the ball and the pending charges on Doug.
Letters from the SAO
Doug followed Ashley across three state lines, illegally tracked her car, and secretly stalked her….
But when a Florida Judge failed to continue court ordered protection for Ashley, Doug was suddenly back in her daily life.
Notes found on Doug’s phone
The rocky relationship continued to evolve as Ashley tried to navigate the ins and outs of co-parenting with her abuser.
After another attempt to distance herself from Doug, the threats and stalking were back full force as Doug continued to pursue Ashley.
As time went on, Ashley’s daughter started coming home from timesharing visits with unexplained injuries.
What started out as bumps and bruises turned into dramatic injuries to her face and mouth, as well as drastic changes in behavior, fear and disturbing play that would depict an angry ‘daddy’ who hurt the dog and even the child.
Injuries upon returning from various timesharing with Doug
There was yet another pending injunction hearing on the docket for September 30th, 2020.
Injunction Court Filing
But Ashley never made it to that injunction hearing….
Ashley was attacked
Ashley’s home in Lakewood Ranch
On September 27th, 2020, Ashley was in her home when she was threatened, assaulted, battered, and attacked by Doug.
A motion filed by Ashley’s attorneys, details the events that transpired on that evening, leading to Ashley having no choice but to defend her life.
Section 17 of SYG motion filed
The judge on Ashley’s case as well as the State Attorney, mutually agreed after reading her motion, that she was in fact entitled to immunity from prosecution because it is LEGAL to defend your life in all 50 states.
Stipulated Order by Judge Whyte
But on the night of September 27th, 2020, Ashley was not treated like the victim despite the evidence of her attack
MCSO Official Evidence Photographs
She was handcuffed at gunpoint, put in the back of a cop car, and taken to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Because of the pending injunction hearing, Ashley’s attorneys had already been on high alert.
When they got word of a shooting, everyone’s first instinct was that Doug had finally killed Ashley.
Official Court Filing
Ashley’s legal team quickly flocked to her defense, meeting her at the MCSO where she was being held in an interrogation room.
Ashley and her attorney in the interrogation room
Ashley was shaking and in shock from the trauma she had just endured. But her nightmare was far from over.
Manatee County CPS
As she was being held, Ashley’s daughter was remanded into state custody. The given reason….?
Failure to protect the child from the abuse from her father, Douglas Benefield.
Ashley and her daughter
For the next 37 days, Ashley was in and out of dependency court fighting for the right to even visit her 2 year old daughter, only to then be charged and arrested for having defended her own life.
That was just the beginning of the battle in dependency court - Ashley fought for over a year before she was reunited with her young daughter…
Ashley’s daughter visibly upset as a supervised visitation with her mother was coming to an end
The dependency case was ultimately closed, her daughter was returned, and the Court found that Ashley was ‘a very good mother’ who should not have had her daughter removed from her custody in the first place.
The State Colluded
Ashley, her legal team, psychologist, therapists, counselors, advocates from the domestic violence shelter, her family and friends, all cooperated with law enforcement as they ‘investigated’ the case.
Multiple interviews were conducted and each time, professionals in the community educated the Detective on the history of domestic violence and abuse.
Interview excerpts Det. Warren and Therapist Dr. Quintal
A second doctor, a forensic mental health professional, detailed the history of abuse and Doug’s propensity of violence towards those around him in an extensive interview with Detectives.
Yet others who volunteered to talk to the Detectives were never contacted to give statements….
Interview excerpts Det. Warren and Forensic Expert Dr. Russell
The State’s top Medical Examiner, Dr. Russell Vega, conducted the official autopsy and determined that Doug was shot in the chest…. “From front to back”
This information was shared directly with the Detective, as was recorded in his records log, once again, corroborating that Ashley was in fact defending her life from an attack at the hands of Doug.
Medical Examiner’s Report
As the days went on, it also became obvious from the evidence on the scene, that Ashley was cornered in her bedroom where she was trapped and attacked by Doug.
Ashley’s House Diagram
Yet still, the MCSO and the SAO refused to close the case as an obvious self defense.
In fact, the lead Detectives colluded with the State Attorney in an email chain that went back and forth with 3 distinctly different Probable Cause Affidavits
Email’s between MCSO Detective and SAO Prosecutor
A chain of lies
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Not only was this Detective aware from his conversation with the State’s Medical Examiner, that Doug was shot in the chest, but he also knew from the responding officers at the scene, that Doug was found on his back - because he was facing her when he was shot.
This same Detective knew from the responding officers as well as the other documented physical evidence from the scene that Doug was found in the doorway to Ashley’s bedroom where he had cornered her - Just like she said he did.
The photographic evidence collected by crime scene techs also documented several injuries on Ashley’s body - yet this Detective continues to claim he saw ‘no injuries’ or signs of struggle.
Even after seeing the documented history of domestic violence, stalking, threats, and having talked to eye witnesses as well as a forensic psychologist on the case, this Detective had the audacity to LIE on his Probable Case Affidavit (PCA).
This Detective intentionally concealed the identity of the ‘witness’, removing the fact that she was forensic psychologist, Dr. Barbara Russell. He also intentionally left out the fact that he was told the scratches happened on THAT night, not ‘the day before’, in a further attempt to remove immanency and the evidence that Ashley was in fact injured. But most egregiously, this Detective intentionally concealed the fact that the aggressor who injured Ashley was Doug.
Why would a Detective lie on a PCA?
We are glad you asked.
Law enforcement has a burden that they have to overcome in order to charge someone with a crime. If there was ANY evidence of self defense, they should not have charged her…. but he did anyway.
This is why the Detective had to IGNORE the evidence, LIE and ultimately REMOVE PROOF that Doug Benefield was the aggressor and that Ashley lawfully acted in self defense.
