Texas A&M assistant coach and former college football star Blaise Taylor was arrested on suspicion of poisoning his girlfriend and her unborn child to death in 2023.
The 27-year-old Taylor was arrested on Thursday by federal marshals in Utah who were “serving an indictment from Nashville police on two counts of first-degree murder,” according to ESPN.
Taylor’s girlfriend, Jade Benning, was five months pregnant with a baby believed to be Taylor’s when she was rushed to the hospital on Feb. 25, 2023.
Nashville police said that Taylor told a 911 operator that Benning had an allergic reaction.
Benning’s fetus died two days later, and Benning died on Mar. 6, 2023 — her 25th birthday.
Police said that Benning’s condition was immediately critical and she could not speak to be interviewed before she died.
According to WSMV in Nashville, police said that “months of investigation, led by Homicide Unit Detective Adam Reese, and involving scientists from the crime lab and doctors from the Medical Examiner’s Office, led to Wednesday’s murder indictment against Taylor.”
Taylor is accused of poisoning Benning in her own apartment, without her knowledge.
Taylor was working in the pro scouting department for the Titans at the time, and worked as a defensive analyst for Utah State last season.
Last week the site Football Scoop reported that Taylor had been hired by Texas A&M as a defensive backs coach.
Taylor’s father, Trooper Taylor, is a running backs coach on A&M’s staff.
Blaise Taylor starred on Arkansas State as a defensive back and punt returner from 2014-17 and is the school’s all-time record holder in pass breakups and punt return yards.