Ashley Benefield was guilty of murdering Douglas Benefield in her Florida bedroom on September 27, 2020. Detectives with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said they received a 911 call from one of Ashley's neighbors reporting Ashley had come over saying she had been attacked by her husband and shot him. Detectives determined that four shots had been fired, two of which struck Douglas. Four .45 casings were found at the scene. In the months leading up to the shooting Ashley had made allegations against Douglas in child visitation hearings during which a judge had said she did not find Ashley's story to have a 'scintilla of truth' and ordered Douglas to have access to the child for visitation. Detectives say it was 'At this point, it appears that Ashley had exhausted all legal means of keeping the child away from Douglas before the shooting'.