SAN DIEGO -- An ex-con who beat and strangled his girlfriend in her North Park apartment was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison.

Harold Dwayne Jones, 49, killed 58-year-old Barbara Moore on July 24, 2009.

He pleaded guilty in July to second-degree murder.

The defendant -- who has a 1990 conviction for burglary and a 1996 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon -- was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Charles Gill.

According to testimony presented during a three-hour preliminary hearing last November, Jones called 911 the morning of Moore's death.

San Diego police Officer John Lane testified that Jones was completely nude and covered in sweat when he answered the door of the apartment on Illinois Street.

An agitated and despondent Jones led the officer to a back bedroom, where Moore was lying naked on the floor, not breathing, with two black eyes and bruises on her face, Lane testified.

The officer said Jones told him that he woke up to find Moore taking shallow breaths and decided to wipe her down with alcohol wipes.

Regarding the bruises, Jones said Moore had fallen in the shower about 2 1/2 weeks earlier, Lane testified. Jones also said he and Moore had been in a fight, the officer said.

Lane told Deputy District Attorney Patrick Ojeil that Jones had several scratches on his stomach and chest.

Deputy Medical Examiner Christopher Swalwell testified that Moore died from brain injuries that led to cardiac arrest and from strangulation.

San Diego police Detective Brett Burkett testified Jones told him that he woke up at 4:30 a.m. and found Moore with her mouth open and "realized she was purple."

Jones said he listened for the woman's heartbeat and slapped her face, but got no response, Burkett testified.

The defendant said he wiped the woman down with ice for 20 minutes, tried CPR and at some point called 911, the detective testified.

When asked how Moore might have gotten her injuries, Jones said it might have been from a fall in the shower or a fall in the kitchen, Burkett testified.

The defendant also blamed Moore's cats, and said she took medications that made her groggy, according to the detective.

After a police interview, Jones was overheard in a holding cell saying there were no witnesses to Moore's death, that he loved his "wife," and that he would "never lay a hand on her again," the detective testified.