A southern California man on trial for murdering his wife on Christmas morning in 2011 allegedly propped up her body on a sofa, told their three children she was drunk and had them open Christmas presents in front of her body, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday.
William Wallace, 39, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of his wife, 26-year-old Za’Zell Preston. He had previously served jail time for beating her during an earlier confrontation, the Orange County Register reported.
“This Christmas story does not have a happy ending, and unfortunately this is not just a story, it is real life,” Heather Brown, Orange County senior deputy district attorney, told jurors on Monday.
Prosecutors said Wallace and Preston went to a neighbour’s party on Christmas Eve and ended up getting into an argument later in the evening, The Mercury News reported.
Wallace allegedly told one of his wife’s family members that he and Preston got into an argument and “I tossed her around a bit,” Brown told the court.
One neighbour told investigators they later saw Wallace picking up what appeared to be a body by the gate of their apartment in Anaheim.
However, he eventually brought her back to their apartment, according to prosecutors.
Then on Christmas morning, Wallace allegedly dragged Preston’s body to a living room couch, put sunglasses on her and told his kids ― a newborn son and two daughters, ages 3 and 8 ― that “Mommy ruined Christmas, she got drunk and ruined Christmas.”
Then, Brown told jurors Preston had the children open up their presents.
Preston was still slumped over on the sofa when paramedics arrived. Police found blood throughout the apartment as well as holes in the walls and a door off its hinges, according to the Mercury News.
Heather Moorhead, Wallace’s attorney, denied the allegations and told jurors that Preston died after she fell into a glass table while drunk.
“Mr Wallace is being accused of something that is not his fault,” Moorhead told jurors. “You will hear about a relationship that was full of arguing and yelling, but also a lot of love.”
The Orange Country Register noted that before her death, Preston had enrolled in classes at Cypress College, in hopes of becoming a domestic violence counsellor.
Wallace has been behind bars in lieu of a $1 million bail since his arrest nine years ago, according to The Associated Press. If convicted of first-degree murder, Wallace faces up to 25 years to life in prison.