SAN ANTONIO -- Although they were about to end their marriage of less than a year, Beatrix Perez said that she still loved her husband, Juan Abitu.

Perez, 49, who is on trial in the beating death of Abitu, 73, told a jury Friday that the couple lived apart but still visited each other frequently.

On Aug. 23 2007, Perez said that she stopped by Abitu's small garage apartment on West Summit. When Perez looked inside, she said she saw Abitu's body lying in a pool of blood.

"He was there not moving and I got very scared," Perez said in Spanish through an interpreter.

Perez said that she tried to get help from Abitu's landlord. But when she got no answer at the door, Perez said that she panicked and left without calling police or EMS. Perez said that she fled to Mexico fearing that whoever killed her husband would kill her.

Perez was arrested and charged with Abitu's slaying a month later when she returned to San Antonio.

Closing arguments and jury deliberations are scheduled for next week. If Perez is found guilty on the murder charge, she could be sentenced to life in prison.