She had no pulse. Her pupils were dilated and there was brain tissue mingled with blood in her hair.
Next to her on the floor knelt a highly emotional Oscar Pistorius, who kept crying out to God: “Please don’t let her die. Please let her live.”
He promised he would give his life to God if she survived.
Bowing down in the dock on Thursday, with his head clenched between his hands, a distressed Pistorius listened to one of his neighbours describe to the High Court in Pretoria what he witnessed on arrival at his home on February 14 last year.
Pistorius is accused of murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.
He has pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder.