Benjy was the only child of Ellen Hawk, and one of many fathered by Stefano DiMera. His parents had a brief relationship, but once his mother and grandfather learned who and what Stefano was, they fled with him. When he caught them, he had Ellen killed. Although able to hear at birth, he became deaf after being trapped in one of Stefano's many homes when it exploded. Kayla and Steve Johnson found Benjy while on their honeymoon in the Orient, and wanted to raise him as their own, until Stefano came back into his life. Eventually, though, Benjy ended up living with his maternal grandfather, Orion Hawk, when he told Stefano he wanted nothing to do with him.

Benjy returned to Salem briefly after Steve and Kayla were nearly poisoned at the hospital, and it was Benjy's presence and Steve's sudden usage of sign language that helped Steve to remember the love he and Kayla had once shared. Benjy later introduced Steve and Kayla to his wife, Sonia, and the two told Steve and Kayla about the son they had. Benjy gave Steve the death Tarot card immediately after dinner, and later Benjy admitted that he was forced into doing so by E.J. and Stefano, who had threatened to harm his family.

Benjy was kidnapped during the search for a liver donor for his ill father Stefano, and was only saved after being found by a homeless man. During his recovery, he left the hospital to shoot at Stefano's corpse during Stefano's faked funeral, and later his dead body was found in Stefano's coffin while Steve was looking for Roman.