California man killed wife on Christmas Eve then had kids open presents up in front of her: report

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The trial of 39-year-old William Wallace began in Southern California this week more than a decade after he allegedly killed his wife by inflicting blunt force trauma to her head on Christmas Eve of 2011.

Wallace called the police at 9:30 a.m. on Christmas Day asking for medical assistance and responding officers found 26-year-old Za’Zell Preston's lifeless body in the bed of the home. 

Senior Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown told jurors Monday that Wallace's wife tried to run away from him during an argument after they drank at a Christmas Eve party in 2011, but he dragged her back inside their apartment, according to the Orange County Register. 

The newspaper reports that Wallace propped her lifeless body up on Christmas morning while the children opened presents and told them, "Mommy ruined Christmas, she got drunk and ruined Christmas."

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Wallace’s attorney, Heather Moorhead, argued that Preston fell and hit her head during the night and never woke up on Christmas Day.

"Mr. Wallace is being accused of something that is not his fault," Moorhead told jurors Monday, according to the Orange County Register. "You will hear about a relationship that was full of arguing and yelling, but also a lot of love."

Preston was a "proud mother" to two daughters and a son, according to her obituary. 

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"[Preston] was a talented dancer and a full-time student at Cypress College focusing on becoming a domestic violence counselor," her obituary reads. 

Wallace is currently being held at the maximum security Theo Lacy Facility on a $1,050,000 bond. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of murder.