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LOGAN — A former Utah State football defensive analyst was arrested by U.S. marshals on Thursday after being accused of poisoning his pregnant girlfriend, who later died, in February of last year.
After months of investigation from crime laboratories and doctors, Blaise Allen Taylor was indicted by a Nashville grand jury on two counts of first-degree murder "for the poisoning deaths of his girlfriend and her 5-month-old fetus which Taylor is alleged to have fathered," according to a statement from Metropolitan Nashville police.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Marshals Office said the 27-year-old was pulled over near 2300 North and 200 East in Logan about 5 p.m. Thursday after deputies received information from Nashville police. He was booked into the Cache County Jail.
On Feb 25, 2023, Taylor's pregnant girlfriend, Jade Benning, was rushed to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center after 911 dispatchers received a call from Taylor stating she appeared to be having an allergic reaction, the police statement says. The unborn fetus died on Feb. 27, and Benning died on March 6, her 25th birthday.
"Benning was not able to be interviewed by police before she died," according to the statement.
Taylor moved to Utah following the deaths, starting as a senior defensive analyst at Utah State University in June 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Now, investigators accuse Taylor of poisoning the young woman without her knowledge while he was visiting her apartment on Feb. 25.
Taylor, the son of football coach Trooper Taylor, was a former Arkansas State football star where he was the second all-time leader in Sun Belt Conference history for punt returns for a touchdown, and he was coached by his father, according to his LinkedIn biography. He became a defensive assistant coach at Duke University when his father coached there, before moving to Nashville and working as a Tennessee Titans scout for four years. He is also listed as a senior athletic assistant on the Texas A&M staff directory, where his father currently coaches.
Sports Illustrated reported he was hired at Texas A&M on March 6.
Nashville police said they are "working with Utah authorities to arrange for Taylor's return to Nashville." The U.S. Marshals Office said the extradition will likely take a couple weeks.
