SAN DIEGO -- Struggling to control her emotions, Brenda van Dam told a jury Wednesday that her slain 7-year-old daughter Danielle was a "precious" gift.

WESTERFIELD TRIAL Judge William Mudd Issues Death Penalty Sentence Hear Jury's Death Penalty Recommendation Watch The Jury's Verdict Being Read Share Your Thoughts DANIELLE VAN DAM 1994-2002 Watch Danielle Video Montage E-mail: daniellevandam @yahoo.com Send mail to: P.O. Box 501515 San Diego, 92150

"I don't know where to begin," Brenda van Dam said. "She was one of the most precious gifts that anyone could ever receive. And I was so happy the day I found out I was pregnant.

"Because before I had a miscarriage between Danielle and Derek (Danielle's older brother), and I so wanted another child. And I was so happy when I found out I was pregnant, and ... I don't know. It's too hard to explain," the mother said.

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Pain Of Victims Shown To Jury

Brenda van Dam (pictured, right) was the final witness in the prosecution's one-day case in the penalty phase of David Westerfield's trial.

The 50-year-old defendant was convicted last week of kidnapping and killing the Sabre Springs second-grader.

The self-employed design engineer, who lived two doors down from the van Dams, also was convicted of possession of child pornography and a special circumstance allegation that the murder of Danielle happened during a kidnapping.

The same jury that found Westerfield guilty must now recommend a death sentence or life in prison without parole.

During the mother's testimony, jurors were shown a five-minute video of the victim's life, including a recent family trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.

Brenda van Dam sobbed during the playing of the tape, which also showed Danielle when she was a baby.

The witness said her daughter "wanted to be a mommy like me."

After Danielle was kidnapped, the woman said, her son asked if he could have done anything to prevent her abduction and murder.

"When she was first taken, Derek came up to me and said, 'Mommy, I woke up that night but I didn't get out of bed. And if I had gone to the bathroom, do you think I could have stopped that bad man from taking her?'" she testified. "And I said, 'I don't think it would have changed anything. I don't think you could have stopped it.'"

Speaking in a soft voice, Damon van Dam testified that he held out hope for weeks that his daughter -- who was reported missing Feb. 2 -- would be found alive.

When told that Danielle's body had been found near Dehesa on Feb. 27, the father said he felt "just disbelief that she could be gone, really, because your hope is a lot more. It's tough. (I'm) still denying it."

Van Dam said his daughter was a caring person who wanted to help everyone she met.

Prosecutor Jeff Dusek showed van Dam a letter that Danielle wrote to her father apologizing for a fight with her younger brother, Dylan.

"To Dad," van Dam read aloud, "I'm sorry. I will be try to be nice. Will you forgive me? I love you. You are the best dad ever."

Van Dam told jurors about the routine he and his daughter had when he put her to bed at night.

"She'd give me the big squeezie hug," he said. Danielle would squeeze him tightly, he said, and he would pretend to die and collapse on her, something the young girl found hilarious.

Danielle's cremated remains sit in an urn on an upstairs mantel in the van Dam home in Sabre Springs.

Her room has been repainted and her furniture put back where it was, the witness said, "so we won't forget her."

The room is also used by Dylan and his older brother, Derek, to play video games.

Van Dam testified that he goes in the room to play with the boys, but also "sometimes just to cry."

Beginning Thursday, the defense will present evidence to try to show that Westerfield lived a mostly crime-free life until he was convicted of murder. Steven Feldman's opening statement was subdued and under 10 minutes long.

Feldman reminded panelists that -- during jury selection -- they said they would not automatically vote for the death penalty.

"He is not the worst of the worst," Feldman said of Westerfield.

Feldman said he would offer evidence on the defendant's career, how he's helped people and how he has been a good family man.

Also in Wednesday's testimony, a 19-year-old girl accused Westerfield of molesting her when she was a child. To read more about that testimony, click here.

Some analysts contend that Westerfield will likely die of old age in prison in any event, given he is already 50 and California has a large backlog of scheduled executions -- which are carried out at the rate of about one a year. To read more about the possibility of Westerfield actually being put to death, click here.