HOUSTON -- Prosecutors have rested their case in the penalty phase of accused cop killer Juan Quintero’s capital murder trial.  

Now defense attorneys are trying to convince the jury to spare his life.

Family members spent most of the morning telling the jury how Rodney’s Johnson’s death tore their family apart.

“I just cry because I miss him so much. It was like – bam! – he was here one day and then gone the next,” Johnson’s youngest daughter told the jury.

The family said they’re left only with memories and pain.

“It’s hard to believe that he’s not here. You have to relive it and, I guess the reality is, he’s not coming back and that’s all we have are memories,” Johnson’s sister, Susan, said.

Johnson’s wife, Josyln, said the day her husband was killed was the day her life changed forever.

“He was everything to me. He was my husband, my friend, my coworker, my cheerleader,” she said.

The defense did not cross-examine family members.

Johnson was shot and killed in Sept 2006. Quintero confessed to killing the officer, shooting him in the back of the head seven times.

Last week, the jury convicted Quintero of murder.

Defense attorneys argued temporary insanity, and they are expected to bring forth character witnesses to testify on Quintero’s behalf in the penalty phase of the trial.