Model Ashley Benefield Gets 20 Years in Prison on Manslaughter Murder Conviction of Doug Benefield Next Stop For Ashley Lowell Correctional

December 3rd, 2024, Florida Statutes Convicted at trial, Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers aka "Christina Alessia", of Manslaughter with a Firearm 1st Degree she would most likely will be sent to Lowell Women's Prison near Ocala Fl for violent offenders to serve her 20 year sentence. Ashley Benefield will be subject to 10 years of State Felony Probation after she is finally released in 2044 from State prison. December 5th is Ashley Benefield's birthday, she will be about 53 years old when she is released from State prison. Florida’s cesspool: is Lowell Correctional, where guards get a pass for raping women. The Justice Department excoriated Florida Corrections, having found that officers at Lowell, one of the largest women's prisons in the nation, have “raped, sodomized, beaten and choked female inmates.

UNSOLVED MURDER AT LOWELL; Bernadette Gregory was getting out of prison in eight months and planning her wedding when she was found hanging in a cell at Florida's Lowell Correctional Institution. Prison authorities say Gregory, 42, tied a double knot in a sheet, twisted it several times around her top bunk, looped the other end around her neck and hanged herself. Despite relying on a wheelchair to get around, she did all of this in 11 minutes - while she was handcuffed, a detail the Department of Corrections' investigative summary mentions only in passing. Gregory's 2009 death is one of many that don't seem to add up but that have nevertheless been tucked away in the department's files, categorized as suicides, homicides, accidents or natural deaths. Bernadette Gregory (G05707) died on July 22, 2009 at Lowell Correctional Institution after having been threatened by guards. She had filed a complaint four days before her death re a beating by a Captain Greer. Linda Thompson, who was a fellow prisoner at Lowell, said that Gregory, who was confined to a wheelchair via handcuffs, was beaten and kicked by guards on the day of her death.

Lowell Correctional Institution is a women's prison in unincorporated Marion County, Florida, north of Ocala, in the unincorporated area of Lowell. Like many Florida prisons, the aging Lowell facility near Ocala lacks air conditioning in its dorms as of 2023. A part of the Florida Department of Corrections, it serves as the primary prison for women in the state. As of 2020 there are 2,696 women are in the main Lowell CI, making it the largest prison for women in the United States. At Lowell Correctional Institution, where the systemic rape of female inmates by male guards has been documented over years by the Miami Herald and drawn a sharp rebuke by the Justice Department, a newly filed Federal lawsuit in Sept 2022 says the sexual abuse is as pervasive as ever. “Some staff abused prisoners through unwanted and coerced sexual contact, including sexual penetration, and groping,” the 2022 report states.

Miami Herald Oct 8th, 2014, Bill Warner, a private investigator who has probed several cases at Lowell Prison, said the female inmates who are raped or sexually abused by male guards rarely report it out of fear that they won’t be able to see their children. About 65 percent of female inmates are mothers, and the prison also houses a population of pregnant inmates, he said. “Everyone I talked to — it’s always the same story. There are beat-downs and they are subjected to indignities like males strip-searching them,’’ Bill Warner said. Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article2564576.html#storylink=cpy

Allegations of Female Prisoner Abuse at Lowell Correctional Institution Florida Prison. Lowell Correctional “Hell Hole” in Ocala Fl. There are multiple allegations male correctional officers (CO's) at Lowell C.I. of which about 65% are male are using threats of loss of gain time to coerce the female inmates into sex acts in the bathroom areas, claims private investigator Bill Warner. I am no advocate for prison reform nor do I have any objections to Florida Judges imposing the harshest and longest prison time to fit the crime, but when those empowered to watch over and care for the incarcerated females become predators running a "good ole boy CO network" within the prison, it is time for a full blown investigation, said private investigator Bill Warner in 2014. The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida spent 2 1/2 years producing their Dec. 22, 2020 report, which alleged that “sexual abuse of women prisoners by Lowell corrections officers and staff is severe and prevalent throughout the prison.”

Miami Herald Sept 2022: Warden ignored staff rapes of female inmates.  At Lowell Correctional Institution, where the systemic rape of female inmates by male guards has been documented over years by the Miami Herald and drawn a sharp rebuke by the Justice Department, a newly filed lawsuit says the sexual abuse is as pervasive as ever. The inmate lawsuit, dated Sept. 1 and citing a litany of specific incidents, targets Stephen Rossiter, Lowell’s warden, as a defendant. It does not claim he engaged in sexual misconduct but that he exhibited “deliberate indifference to a widespread pattern of sexual and physical abuse.” 

Florida Phoenix: Two years after a Dec. 22, 2020 report revealed “notorious acts of sexual abuse, including rape, against prisoners” at the state’s largest and oldest women’s prison, federal officials made a return visit last week at Florida’s Lowell Correctional Institution to see if conditions have improved. The answer was no, according to prisoner rights advocates and attorneys who closely follow events at Lowell. “There are still instances of sexual abuse, and sure they’re aware of it. Are they turning their heads? Sure, they’re turning their heads,” says Laurette Philipsen, who served more than eight years at Lowell Correctional for grand theft and continues to stay in touch with current inmates there. She also is a volunteer member of Florida Cares, a prisoner rights advocacy group. “The (U.S.) Justice Department needs to come down hard on them, without a doubt. It’s two years since this report was published and still nothing has changed,” Philipsen told the Florida Phoenix in a phone interview.

Too Pretty for Lowell Prison: Swimsuit Model Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers, 33, Guilty Gets 20 Years for Manslaughter, she has been taken into custody by the Manatee County Sheriff Dept. Given the max sentence of 20 years, manslaughter with a firearm. After the verdict was announced, the judge overseeing the case revoked Ashley's $100,000 bond and remanded her to the custody of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. I worked at the Trump Election HQ on State Street Sarasota Fl from March 2016 to November 2016 doing security work and background checks on certain people. I was aware, in conversations with Ashley Byers in 2016 at the Trump HQ in Sarasota, that she had a Florida concealed weapon or firearm license. Apparently during one of the times when Ashley Byers first met Doug Benefield in 2016, she told him she had a gun concealed in her bra.

On Wednesday July 24 2024 Detective Chris Gillum, a domestic violence investigator, took the stand and says Ashley Benefield told him, 'I can't believe you're willing to allow Doug to kill me and the baby.' One MCSO detective said the Ashley would call the sheriff's office 30 to 40 times at one period to demand that Doug be arrested at a Hearing in front of the Judge. I knew Ashley Byers during pretty much all of 2016 when I was involved with the Trump campaign and she was the office manager at the State Street Trump campaign office in Sarasota, I never saw this side of Ashley.

Too Pretty For Lowell Prison: Ashley Benefield's Defense Asks Judge to Recuse Themselves from Case. Before the start of jury selection Monday, July 22nd 2024 Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers attorney asked the judge to voluntarily disqualify himself from the trial - accusing him of being biased against Ashley Benefield at a prior Stand Your Ground hearing. Judge Whyte dismissed Ashley Benefield's stand-your-ground claim last year.

Instead of placing the entire burden on the defendant Ashley Benefield, the FL Stand Your Ground law now requires a defendant to establish only a prima facie case of self-defense immunity. At that point, the burden shifts to the prosecution to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant does not qualify for immunity. Judge Stephen Whyte refused to dismiss the charges following a two-day “Stand Your Ground” hearing in July 2023. In his ruling, Judge Whyte wrote that the evidence “proves clearly and convincingly that the defendant is not entitled to court-ordered immunity from criminal prosecution, as she was not justified in using deadly force against the victim on September 27, 2020.” Despite the ruling, Ashley’s defense filed documents indicating they will be presenting evidence that the defendant suffers from “battered spouse syndrome.” Included on the defense’s witness list, along with expert witnesses, is Assistant State Attorney Suzanne O’Donnell, who is prosecuting the case. O’Donnell declined to press charges against Douglas after Ashley’s earlier claims of abuse.

Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers is a well known swimsuit model, she was featured on the cover of Fashion Magazine Issue 1 in December 2015, which led to several other fashion/swimsuit photo assignments. Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers still has/had an active account at ModelMayhem.com under the name "Christina Alessia" as of July 23rd 2024. Too Pretty for Lowell Prison: Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers stand your ground defense ruled not applicable by Judge. Over and over Stand Your Ground has been used as an effective affirmative defense for killing someone in Florida. Dubbed by critics as a “get out of jail free card,” Florida's stand your ground self-defense law is controversial to say the least.

Without the 'Stand Your Ground' Affirmative defense Ashley Benefield had little defense for shooting Doug Benefield. There are a number of cases in Florida, such as the death of Trayvon Martin, where a defendant successfully used the stand your ground defense as justification for using deadly force. Judge Whyte dismissed Ashley Benefield's stand-your-ground claim last year. Four shots were fired by Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers at Doug Benefield – four .45 caliber casings were found on the master bedroom floor, a police affidavit said. A loose projectile was also found on the floor and two more were found embedded in the walls of the home.

Ashley Byers met Doug Bennefield, the day was August 25, 2016, he was 54 years old and Ashley was 24 years old. Remember this date. After their first meeting, they exchanged phone numbers and began to text each other. Doug met Ashley, a ballet dancer, at a Trump 2016 Republican Party fundraiser. The pair were married less than two weeks later after falling madly in love. She was 30 years younger than him.

A FORMER swimsuit model and ex-ballerina who allegedly shot dead her estranged husband in a fraught custody battle was a 2016 campaign office manager for Donald Trump. Ashley Christina Benefield (née Byers) 32, turned herself in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, after cops there found probable cause in the shooting of her husband for her arrest in Manatee County. Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers convicted of fatally shooting her husband Doug Benefield, 59, on September 27 was a Trump Campaign Office Manager in Sarasota and a former Director of Florida Women for Trump in 2016. According to Ashley's journal, she was traveling on Trump's plane when Trump showered her with compliments. As she wrote: "He called me a 'bombshell'…'his little girl' and 'his baby.'"

Ashley Byers was on Trump payroll's as a Florida office manager getting $3,000 a month plus expenses, investigators said. She reportedly traveled on least one occasion to other states for Trump rallies, according to private investigator Bill Warner at 'Bill Warner Investigations', a sleuthing firm based in Sarasota Florida. Ashley Benefield aka Ashley Byers still has/had an active account at ModelMayhem.com under the name "Christina Alessia" while managing the Trump campaign office in the Sunshine State for the president in Sarasota during 2016. The ModelMayhem.com page under the name "Christina Alessia" is still active in July 2024. 

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