Daughter's tears during mum's murder trial

A woman who allegedly murdered her on-off partner with a timber footstool had been regularly abused by him, their daughter has told a Melbourne court.

Mika Dunlop says she remembers her father John Reed assaulting her mother Gayle Dunlop during arguments throughout her childhood - usually after the pair had been drinking.

On one occasion, Mr Reed pushed Dunlop from room to room, then dragged her out the back, beat her and cut her arm with a piece of glass, 26-year-old Ms Dunlop told the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Her mother went to hospital after the incident, but didn't report it to police, she said.

When she was aged 12, Mika threw a knife at her father to stop a violent episode, she told the court.

Dunlop, 60, is standing trial charged with murdering Mr Reed after an argument in a Seaford unit in July last year.

She admits hitting Mr Reed, 63, with the stool and accepts that led to his death.

But the prosecution won't be able to prove Dunlop wasn't acting in self-defence, her barrister has told the jury.

Mika started crying and left the witness box on Wednesday as she was asked about visiting her unconscious father in hospital.

She saw her mother in prison about a week after the alleged attack and told her Mr Reed had died, the court heard.

Mika said they were "mainly quiet" throughout the visit.

"Then near the end, before I left, she whispered to me saying 'Sorry that this happened'," she said.

Dunlop called triple-zero after the incident and asked for an ambulance, saying Mr Reed had a fall, senior crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC has told the jury.

Dr Rogers said Dunlop put the phone on the ground while the call was connected, and was allegedly heard saying: "I was in bed, I don't know where you fell. I hope you die."

"You went to walk up the shops and got attacked, I know nothing, I got up out of bed and this is the condition I found you in.

"It doesn't feel good, does it, what you did do me?"

The trial continues.