Nashville chef Jade Benning’s medical emergency raises questions about that night

A night planned together

Benning had planned dinner and painting at her apartment with Taylor, then a 26-year-old assistant football scout for the Tennessee Titans. The pair had been dating casually and seeing other people.

Minutes after they took selfies, Benning became ill. Taylor told the 911 operator that she was shaking and had spit coming from her mouth. He said he did not know what was happening and had first called his father.

Her move to Nashville

Benning moved from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Nashville to pursue her career and dream of owning a restaurant. Family and friends described her as lively and someone who brought people together.

She was a professional chef and had been captain of her high school cheerleading squad. Her parents, Dennis Browning and Bridget Benning Burks, had divorced, and Browning said Benning helped bring them together.

Pregnancy and urgent calls

In November 2022, about three months into dating Taylor, Benning told her mother she was pregnant. Her friend Jackson later said she sounded scared. Jackson said she heard Benning accuse Taylor of putting something in her drink. She followed the ambulance to the hospital and repeated what she said she heard to medical staff and law enforcement.

Family seeks answers

Benning arrived at Vanderbilt Medical Center unresponsive. Her mother traveled overnight to Nashville and kept calling her phone. Burks said she was told Benning had gone about 45 minutes without oxygen.

Burks said Taylor was told to leave when Benning was moved to the ICU, and that Benning was placed under an alias for protection. Her parents were the only people allowed access, she said. The article does not provide a medical outcome for Benning or the baby.