Former ballerina in Florida is convicted of manslaughter in her estranged husband's 2020 shooting

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — A former ballerina has been convicted of manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of her estranged husband in Florida.

A Manatee County jury returned the guilty verdict late Tuesday against Ashley Benefield, court records show. She had been charged with second-degree murder, but the jurors opted for a lesser offense after nearly seven hours of deliberations.

Benefield, 32, claimed that she killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, during a September 2020 argument at her mother's home, where she had moved from South Carolina after leaving him. Authorities say she shot him twice.

She now faces up to 30 years in prison becaused she used a firearm in the killing. A sentencing date hasn't been set.

After the verdict, Circuit Judge Matt Whyte revoked Benefield's $100,000 bond and ordered her taken into custody, court documents show.

Bradenton is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tampa.

The state shows a photo array of Ashley Benefield during closing arguments in Benefield's trial, Monday, July 29, 2024, at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, Fla. Benefield is on trial for the 2020 shooting death of her husband. (Tiffany Tompkins/The Bradenton Herald via AP)

Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O'Donnell presents closing arguments during Ashley Benefield's trial, Monday, July 29, 2024, at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, Fla. Benefield is on trial for the 2020 shooting death of her husband. (Tiffany Tompkins/The Bradenton Herald via AP)

Defendant Ashley Benefield glances back after the jury retired to deliberate during her trial, Monday, July 29, 2024, at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, Fla. Benefield is on trial for the 2020 shooting death of her husband. (Tiffany Tompkins/The Bradenton Herald via AP)

LONDON (AP) — An inquiry into the 2018 death of a British woman poisoned by a Soviet-developed nerve agent is set to open Monday, offering an opportunity to more closely examine any possible Russian involvement in the case.

Dawn Sturgess and her partner collapsed after they came into contact with a discarded perfume bottle containing the nerve agent Novichok in the southwest England town of Amesbury. She died several days later, but her partner survived.

Their exposure came three months after a former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter were sickened by Novichok in an attack in the nearby city of Salisbury.

Britain has blamed Russian intelligence, but Moscow has denied any role. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Skripal, a double agent for Britain during his espionage days, a “scumbag” of no interest to the Kremlin because he was exchanged in a spy swap in 2010.

The Skripals will not testify during the inquiry out of fear for their safety.

Heather Hallett, the coroner who held the 2018 inquest into Sturgess’ death, said a public inquiry is needed to conduct a complete look at how the woman died. Unlike inquests, which are routinely held in cases when the cause of death is unknown or if someone dies violently, public inquiries are allowed to consider sensitive intelligence material.

FILE - A police officer guards metal fencing erected on the end of Rollestone Street, the location of the John Baker House for homeless people, in Salisbury, England, Thursday, July 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)