All Episodes

December 12, 2024 78 mins

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Bobby Bones Show

The Bobby Bones Show

Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.