Updated: Wed Nov. 04 2009 8:32:48 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

A Toronto man took the stand at a mother's murder trial and claimed responsibility for the death of toddler Emmily Lucas.

"I want to come clean and make this right. It's not fair that someone else be punished for something they didn't do. I can't go on like this," Johnny Bermudez testified in court on Wednesday.

Bermudez is the former boyfriend of Erika Mendieta, who is on trial for second-degree murder for Emmily's death.

"I feel like I took a big load off my shoulder. Believe me when I say that," he told reporters after his testimony.

"Whatever happens with the human law, I guess that's it. I mean, we all got to be worried about God's law, right?"

Emmily died on Nov. 23, 2003.

Ten days before that, Bermudez was babysitting the little girl and his own young son. He testified the children started crying and wouldn't stop, so he slapped them repeatedly and pushed them to the ground.

Emmily stopped crying, but neither could she get back up. He noticed her pulse was very faint, but instead of calling 911, Bermudez went upstairs in the home near Steeles Avenue West and Jane Street.

When asked by the defence if he intended to kill Emmily, Bermudez replied: "No, it could have been either one of the children -- Emmily or my son."

By the time Mendieta came home, Emmily was clearly in severe distress. Mendieta did call 911. Paramedics rushed the little girl to the hospital.

Doctors at the Hospital for Sick Children found her body, face and head covered in bruises. Mendieta told paramedics and a hospital social worker that Emmily fell down some stairs.

Bermudez's admission doesn't mean he'll automatically be charged in connection with Emmily's death. Police would have to undertake an independent investigation.

Prosecutors are suggesting that the man is lying to protect Mendieta and have pointed to a number of contradictory statements that he has made over the years.

Earlier in the trial, they played an intercepted phone conversation that could have been seen as an admission by Mendieta.

However, she testified Monday that Bermudez told her this summer that he lost his temper and struck Emmily. Mendieta said she wasn't home when the fatal blow was struck.

Under cross-examination Tuesday, Mendieta denied singling Emmily out for beatings because the little girl didn't fit in with the rest of the family. The other four children in the household had no bruising.

Emmily had been living with her aunt Selena Lucas before going back to live with her birth mother.

The trial continues.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Chris Eby