Woman gets life in prison for killing boyfriend with stiletto shoe

HOUSTON (KABC) -- A Houston woman was sentenced to life in prison Friday for stabbing and killing her boyfriend with a 5.5-inch stiletto shoe.

Ana Trujillo, 45, was seen silently crying while her sentence was being handed down.

A jury convicted Trujillo of murder on Tuesday for killing her boyfriend Alf Stefan Andersson, 59, by stabbing him 25 times with her shoe during an argument last June at his Houston home.

Trujillo's lawyers said she was defending herself from Andersson after being chased down, knocked into a wall and thrown over a couch.

"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."

Andersson was a University of Houston professor and researcher, who witnesses described as mild-mannered, quiet and never violent. Prosecutors said Andersson had defensive wounds on his hands and wrists, while Trujillo did not have any injuries.

Prosecutors asked jurors for the maximum sentence of life in prison, saying that she had violently killed Andersson and tried to ruin his character during the trial by 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," prosecutor John Jordan said.

Trujillo's attorney asked jurors to limit her sentence to two years, saying that his client acted in the heat of the moment. Trujillo had testified that she had been repeatedly abused by men and sexually assaulted, and that Andersson drank heavily and would get angry with her.

"Ms. Trujillo needs mercy right now," he said.

Jurors spent nearly five hours deliberating on Friday before deciding on life in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.