Jennie Gray tells jurors "my whole body froze" when she found Ellie's lifeless body - and admits delaying a 999 call.
A mother has broken down as she told a court how she had delayed calling 999 for her daughter after she was allegedly beaten to death.
"I just went upstairs. I went into Ellie's room. I saw Ellie on the floor and she was just lying there, and I looked at her eyes - her pupils were big. I've never seen that before in my life.
"She was just so still and I could not think, my whole body froze. I got down near her. I tried to breathe air in her mouth. I heard a noise in her stomach and I saw her tummy come up and then this smell - a terrible smell.
"I knew she was gone, she was gone already."
As she broke down, Butler slipped out of the dock before returning again to hear more of her evidence minutes later.
Butler, 36, is on trial charged with murdering Ellie at their home on 28 October, 2013, and trying to pass it off as an accident.
She had suffered "catastrophic head injuries".
Gray has admitted perverting the course of justice by hiding or destroying evidence and "acting out" the 999 call.
Both deny child cruelty charges over an earlier shoulder injury.
Jurors have been told that Butler was convicted of shaking Ellie in 2007, but cleared on appeal.
The couple won custody of their daughter in November 2012, 11 months before she died.
Under cross-examination, Ben FitzGerald said Gray was a "skilful and prolific liar" who was still lying to the jury at the Old Bailey.
Gray denied "sacrificing" Ellie's wellbeing for the sake of her relationship.
When it was suggested the reason for hiding the truth was to protect Butler, she said she lied about her daughter's death "to protect an innocent man".
The trial continues.
Editor Sky News Photo: Sky News/Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock
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