"It's like a bone deep sorrow that lingers within you and everything you do," she said.
His son TJ talked about how he idolized his father. Losing him, he explained, was just too much to bear.
"Every moment and every movement felt like I was on my own. I couldn't fathom being the man of the house," TJ testified. "I don't know if I'm ready to take the burden but I guess I have to."
His widow Stephanie couldn't fight back the tears as she told the jury, "Libby's dad will never walk her down the aisle. Her children will never know their grandfather. In a nutshell, we lost our knight in shining armor."
Prosecutors say convicted cop killer Mabry Landor didn't just hang out with a really rough and dangerous crowd, they insist he had ties to one of the most violent streets gangs in the country.
Prosecutors say Landor was a member of the "503 Manor Mob" -- a local street gang associated with the Bloods, a well-known Los Angeles, California, street gang identified by the color red worn by its members.
Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Squiers testified that when he interviewed Landor five days after Officer Abernethy's murder, Landor implied he had ties to the gang. Prosecutors showed the jury pictures of Landor's tattoos. Squiers testified that at least one suggested a connection to the Bloods.
Earlier in the day there was more dramatic testimony, this time from Patrick Hogan, the boyfriend of Landor's ex-girlfriend Lakedra Franklin. Hogan told the jury in the hours before Landor murdered Officer Abernethy at the apartment complex where Franklin lived, he started threatening her over the phone
"He said he was going to kill her," Hogan testified. The prosecutor asked, "Did it frighten you?" "Yes," Hogan responded.
"We called the police officers," Hogan testified. "They came out and you saw what the outcome was. The officer got killed instead of us. Those bullets were meant for me and her."
A Houston police officer also testified that several months before the deadly shooting, Landor went to the Shell gas station where Franklin worked and slit the tires on her car. The officer explained that when he arrived at the scene, Franklin was so terrified she had locked herself inside the store.
On Tuesday, Landor was found guilty of capital murder for killing Officer Abernethy following a traffic stop on the north side at the Luxor Park Apartments. Landor ran, but was caught a short time later.
Testimony in the punishment phase of this trial is expected to wrap up sometime Friday afternoon. Judge McSpadden said he would not sequester the jury over the weekend. The jury instead will begin deliberating Landor's sentence sometime on Monday.
