81: Mommy Murdered the Night Before Christmas

Usual Disclaimer with Eleanor Neale

In 2011, the night before Christmas, a mother of 3 and student Za’Zell

Preston was murdered hours after leaving a Christmas Eve party in California.

On Christmas morning her body was found propped up on the sofa, wearing

sunglasses, watching her children open presents, in an apartment covered in

blood. Her husband William Wallace made phone calls to the entire family, before

finally agreeing to call an Ambulance for Za’Zell. But shortly after calling

that Ambulance, William would find himself incarcerated awaiting trial, for

almost a decade.

For the 3 years leading up to her death, William had subjected Za’Zell to a

relationship from hell. William’s abuse had put Za’Zell in hospital multiple

times and he promised to kill her if she ever left Za’Zell would share her

emotional turmoil in love on Facebook and desperately tried to fix the man she

loved most, even enrolling to study domestic violence herself. But in 2011, with

plans to finally leave him for good and become a counsellor to help other women

break free from domestic violence, Za’Zell’s time to escape with her life,

would tragically run out.

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