Bensinger set for trial, again
CATLETTSBURG A new trial date has been set for an Ashland man who stands accused of murdering 24-year-old Angel B. Rowe nearly three years ago.
Taylon Bensinger, 23, was arrested in October 2021 after police said he shot and killed Rowe in the 3000 block of Montgomery Avenue.
Per initial reports, Bensinger and Rowe announced an engagement days before the shooting.
Bensinger appeared for yet another pre-trial conference on Thursday in Boyd County Circuit Court where Gregory Griffith, the directing attorney for the county’s Department of Public Advocacy, said the case was heading “a step in the right direction compared to what it used to be.”
In the latest update provided by Griffith, a competency report for Bensinger had been completed and although no plea agreement had been reached with the Commonwealth yet, the legal parties are still undergoing plea negotiations.
Bensinger has been scheduled for jury trial at least five times since his October 2021 arrest, and on Thursday, the case was bumped for the sixth time to February 2025.
Griffith requested the trial not be set until after the first of the year, but Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kierston Rosen requested the month of January be left open, as that month is reserved for the capital murder trial of John Tooson V of Rossford, Ohio, who is accused of murdering two sisters in the same block of Montgomery Avenue as Rowe’s shooting in the summer of 2022.
Judge John Vincent also noted that Bensinger’s recent indictment of promoting contraband would not be tried with the 2021 murder case, deciding to leave that case “hanging out there” until the 2021 case is resolved.
Bensinger was scheduled for a status hearing in September.
