A 26-year-old mother was beaten to death on Christmas morning. Her children were told she ruined Christmas.
- Strange Case Files
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The Za’Zell Preston Case: Domestic Violence, a Staged Scene, and a Mother’s Death
A Quiet Life in Anaheim
Za’Zell Preston was 26 years old and living in Anaheim, California. She was a mother of three young children and was taking college classes at the time of her death. According to prosecutors, she had talked about wanting to eventually work as a domestic violence counselor.
Friends and family later described her as someone who was trying to build a better life for herself and her children. From the outside, her life appeared ordinary. But inside her marriage, investigators would later say there was a long history of violence.
Za’Zell was married to William Wallace. Court records and testimony revealed that Wallace had previously been arrested for beating her and threatening to kill her. He had served jail time for domestic violence before her death.
A Pattern of Abuse
Prosecutors presented evidence that the relationship had been volatile for years. Neighbors and family members described frequent arguments and physical altercations. At one point, Wallace had been convicted of assaulting Za’Zell and had gone to jail for it.
Despite that, the couple remained together and continued raising their children in the same home.
By December 2011, they had three children. One was just seven weeks old. The others were three and eight.
Christmas Eve 2011
On the night of December 24, 2011, Za’Zell and Wallace attended a neighbor’s Christmas party in their apartment complex. Witnesses said they had been drinking.
Later that night, they returned to their apartment.
What happened next is known only through physical evidence and the arguments presented at trial. There were no independent witnesses inside the home.
Sometime late that night or in the early hours of Christmas morning, Za’Zell Preston was beaten to death.
What Investigators Found
Prosecutors said Za’Zell died from blunt force trauma to the head. The injuries were consistent with a violent assault. They argued she had been struck repeatedly.
The defense claimed she had been intoxicated and may have fallen into a glass table, causing her fatal injuries. That theory was presented to the jury but was disputed by the prosecution.
There were no signs of an accidental fall scene that matched the severity of her injuries.
The Staging
What happened after her death is what made the case so disturbing.
Prosecutors said William Wallace dragged Za’Zell’s body from the bedroom into the living room. He placed her on the couch in a sitting position. He put sunglasses on her face.
Then he woke the children.
According to court testimony, Wallace had the children open their Christmas presents in front of their mother’s body.
Prosecutors said he told them something along the lines of, “Mommy got drunk and ruined Christmas.”
When paramedics were eventually called, Za’Zell was unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Behavior After the Killing
At trial, prosecutors focused heavily on Wallace’s behavior after Za’Zell was already dead.
They argued he was not so intoxicated that he did not understand what he was doing. They pointed to evidence that he had changed clothes, attempted to clean up, and moved her body deliberately.
A neighbor testified that earlier that night, Wallace had been seen throwing Za’Zell’s shoes upstairs while carrying her, suggesting she was already incapacitated when they returned home.
Prosecutors argued this showed awareness, not confusion.
The Criminal Case
Wallace was indicted by a grand jury in 2012 on one felony count of murder.
The case took nearly a decade to go to trial.
In April 2021, a jury found William Wallace guilty of second-degree murder.
The jury rejected the defense claim that Za’Zell’s death was an accident.
In June 2021, Wallace was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
The Children
The three children were in the apartment the entire time.
One was still an infant.
They did not witness the assault itself. But prosecutors said they were present for what happened afterward.
They opened Christmas presents in the same room where their mother’s body had been staged on the couch.
What This Case Shows
This case is often cited in discussions of intimate partner homicide because of how clearly it demonstrates escalation.
There was documented domestic violence. There were prior arrests. There were threats. There was jail time.
And yet, the situation continued.
Za’Zell Preston was studying domestic violence while living inside it.
The final moments of her life were not witnessed. But what happened afterward was carefully reconstructed through evidence, testimony, and Wallace’s own actions.
Not a sudden accident. Not a mystery. But the end point of a pattern that had already been visible for years.
A Christmas That Never Ended
For most families, Christmas morning is remembered through photos and traditions.
For three children in Anaheim, Christmas morning became the day their mother was already gone and no one told them.
Za’Zell Preston was 26 years old.
Her case did not become famous. There were no documentaries. No viral headlines.
Just a quiet apartment, a couch, sunglasses, and a story that only surfaced years later in a courtroom.
And three children who will never remember a Christmas before it happened.
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