Ana Trujillo was convicted of murder Tuesday by the same jury for killing 59-year-old Alf Stefan Andersson during an argument last June at his Houston condominium. Defence attorneys yesterday argued that Trujillo, 45, was defending herself from an attack by Andersson, a native of Sweden who became a US citizen.
Trujillo could be seen silently crying yesterday when her sentence was handed down.
"I never meant to hurt him," Trujillo said before the judge made the jury's decision final. "It was never my intent. I loved him. I wanted to get away. I never wanted to kill him."
"My uncle was a great man. He was kind. He didn't deserve what happened to him. We are happy that justice is served," she said.
During closing arguments in the trial's punishment phase, prosecutor John Jordan asked jurors for the maximum sentence: life in prison. Jordan said Trujillo not only violently killed Andersson but tried to ruin his character during the trial by falsely claiming he had abused her.
"Send the message that in our community, when you beat a man to death for no reason, when you come into a courtroom and you slaughter his good name ... That we in Texas are going to hold you accountable," Jordan said.
"Ms Trujillo needs mercy right now," he said. During Carroll's closing argument, Trujillo began crying. During their deliberations yesterday, jurors asked to look at several pieces of evidence, including the blue suede stiletto heel. They reached agreement on a sentence after 4½ hours of deliberations, and also found that the crime was not done in the heat of sudden passion.
Prosecutors argued yesterday that Trujillo didn't kill Andersson in a moment of sudden passion but that his slaying was a vicious murder in which she pinned him down and repeatedly stabbed him with her shoe while he never fought back.