SAN ANTONIO – A 37-year-old woman fatally stabbed her 25-year-old nephew she had an affair with in self-defense, the woman's lawyer told a jury during opening remarks in her murder trial.
Defense Attorney Mike McCrum said that the three-year romantic relationship involving Andira Abdelaziz, 37, and Mohammed Abdelaziz, 25, was marred by physical and mental abuse from the nephew.
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McCrum said the mental abuse included hundreds of threatening texts Mohammed Abdelaziz sent to his aunt the day before the stabbing.
"(He was) calling her the most vile names that I think any person could call another person, describing what he's going to do to her," McCrum told the jury.
Mohammed Abdelaziz was stabbed in the back on the morning of Aug. 9, 2016, in a Northwest Bexar County home where he lived with his aunt, her husband and their children.
The victim's aunt, Evelin Abdelaziz, testified that Mohammed Abdelaziz wasn't a violent man.
"He never disrespected anyone in the household in any way," she testified.
Prosecutors disputed the self-defense claim during their opening arguments.
"He sent some texts suggesting that he was going to reveal the romantic relationship to the family," prosecutor Clayton Haden said.
Haden explained that the family was Palestinian and that revelation of the affair would be a disgrace to the family.
Testimony is expected to continue Friday in Judge Sid Harle's 226th District Court.