Will long prison sentence have effect on battered women?

62-year-old martha acevedo is about to begin a long prison sentence for killing her husband… a man she claims abused her for years. abc-seven has been following the trial since it began monday. we were there today as the jury came back with a 25-year sentence for her murder conviction. acevedo admitted to the court she used an apron to strangle jose acevedo. she said she did it after he punched her in the face … and he passed out drunk. we spoke to both attorneys after the punishment was announced: louis lopez: this is a tragedy and this jury sent a message to battered women all over this town that whether you’re a victim or a defendant you’re gonna get screwed in this system, you’re not going to get your fair shake … james montoya: our office, the da’s office are highly committed to the prosecution of domestic violence, its one of the things that we prosecute very strongly … that is a priority in the office.” since we reported acevedo’s punishment on abc- seven at five … we’ve taken a much closer look at domestic acevedo’s punishment on abc- seven at five … we’ve taken a much closer look at domestic violence as a whole. we asked why some women, like acevedo, take matters into their own hands. if you’re in need of help, grab a pen and paper, we have an important number for you. new at six… … we hear what abc-seven’s darren hunt was able to find out. rick and estela, i went to the el paso center against sexual assault and family violence today… … where thousands of women every year look for shelter or other help. “it’s a tale of this is where things could possibly escalate to, if you don’t leave this relationship, domestic violence will escalate to homicide.” and that appears to be what happened last year with this san eli couple. martha acevedo admitting to strangling her husband with an apron after 40 years of alleged abuse. “we had five witnesses, including his brother, during punishment, that admitted to seeing him hit or abuse her at some time … ” “it’s important to realize an understand that every person who experiences domestic violence often times feel trapped.” “everybody seems to believe you can get out of it, you just need to lock the door, you need to get in the car, you need to drive to your sister’s or your mother’s or in this case her children and she’s saved and the bad guy just goes away like in the movies.” “many of them experience so man barriers to getting out of that relationship they don’t feel they have any other option but to stay.” acevedo’s attorney said his client did reach out for help, acevedo’s attorney said his client did reach out for help, but dropped the charges. “when they do the right thing and try to call police, they end up in this courthouse where a good percentage of family violence cases are dismissed because eventually the abusers get them to drop charges.” “unless you’ve been in that situation, unless you’ve had all the resources stripped from you, unless you’ve had your self esteem bombarded and no longer exists, that becomes really difficult.” if you find yourself in an abusive relationship and in need of help or resources … call the crisis hotline. here’s that important number we told you about. it’s 915-593-7300. again that’s 593-7300. we’ll post this number on our web story. rick and estela. darren thank you … if your’e heading out tonight,… please drive safely. rain