A teenager accused of strangling his girlfriend to death said: "If it was me, it was somebody who used me, it wasn't me."
Nigel Diakite is alleged to have killed young mum N'Taya Elliott-Cleverley in a "brutal, merciless and sustained attack".
Prosecutors say he used a skipping rope to murder the 20-year-old when she was in bed next to their sleeping baby's cot.
READ MORE: Live updates as Nigel Diakite accused of murdering girlfriend N’Taya Elliott-Cleverley
They allege Diakite later "confessed" to killing her at their Wavertree home, in the early hours of January 29, 2021.
But the 19-year-old denies Miss Elliott-Cleverley's murder and says he cannot remember carrying out any attack.
Diakite, aka Mohammed Diakite, today told Liverpool Crown Court he was orphaned while growing up in war-torn Ivory Coast and witnessed a friend being shot dead in Mali.
He said he was separated from his sister, and three fellow migrants died during a boat journey to Spain, before he reached Liverpool at the age of 15.
Under questioning by Richard Pratt, QC, defending, and speaking with the assistance of a French interpreter, he told the jury he had applied for asylum.
Diakite said he was on medication for depression, but didn't always take the right dose, and often had thoughts of suicide, heard voices and hallucinated.
He said he met Miss Elliott-Cleverley at an African festival at Sefton Park, adding: "We were very happy together. We did everything together. She even helped me to do my college work sometimes."
Diakite said they argued about their daughter after she was born in September 2020, and while he was never violent to his partner, she would slap him.
The jury heard evidence of police attending their home in Prince Alfred Road on October 6, 2020, after an alleged assault by Diakite on the new mum.
In police bodycam footage, she told officers Diakite put his fingers down her mouth during an argument and the day beforehand had bruised her left arm by grabbing it in another row.
The court heard a retraction statement Miss Elliott-Cleverley made a day later, in which she said her allegations were true, but she and Diakite argued due to both of their behaviour and she no longer wished to support a prosecution because it was "too much for me to cope with".
Miss Elliott Cleverley said she just wanted to concentrate on her baby, had put a deposit down for a new property and intended to move there alone.
She said: "Nigel will stay at our current house. I am not sure if we will continue to be in a relationship, but he is a good dad and has helped out a lot."
Diakite told the jury he had grabbed her arm, to stop her leaving, but denied putting his fingers down her mouth.
He said on the night of Thursday, January 28, 2021, Miss Elliott-Cleverley wanted to have sex and he didn't, so her "mood changed".
Diakite said he was exercising with a skipping rope, so he put the rope on their bed, then picked up their crying baby and started giving her milk in the bedroom.
He said Miss Elliott-Cleverley was swearing at him and she put her finger in his eyes and slapped him in the head, so he put the baby down in her cot.
Asked what happened next, Diakite said: "Then I found myself in the hospital."
He said putting their daughter down was the last thing he remembered and he didn't recall making phone calls to two friends, ringing his support worker, getting a taxi to Liverpool ONE Bus Station, meeting a friend there, or going to Merseyside Police HQ, where he was arrested.
Diakite said: "I've never been to the police station."
He told the jury he and Miss Elliott-Cleverley both planned on moving to a new flat and were going to get married.
Mr Pratt said: "Do you know how N’Taya died?"
"No, no, now I don't understand," Diakite replied.
His barrister said: "Do you have any recollection of having killed her?”"
"No," Diakite answered.
Mr Pratt said: "Did you want her to die?"
"No," Diakite replied, before seemingly wiping tears away from his eyes.
Under cross-examination by Ian Unsworth, QC, prosecuting, Diakite told the jury he loved Miss Elliott-Cleverley.
Asked what he did to help her after she had suffered her injuries, he replied "I wasn't there at that time" and said he didn't know how she was killed.
Mr Unsworth put to him: "You know it was you, don't you?"
Diakite answered: "If it was me, it was somebody who used me, it wasn't me."
Mr Unsworth said: "Who would use you to do such a thing?"
Diakite replied: "I wouldn't have wanted to kill her, we lived together, I loved her. I was happy to start a family, to start another family."
He said "nobody" removed Miss Elliott-Cleverley's SIM card from her mobile phone and he didn't know who "smashed" the device.
Diakite said he didn't remember calling his support worker Celia Cole, or telling her his girlfriend had gone to her mum's, or that she was drunk.
He denied trying to make Miss Elliott-Cleverley "look bad" and said he regretted her being dead "because how am I going to live without her?"
Accused by Mr Unsworth of "putting on an act" and "pretending", he replied: "It's impossible, I couldn't pretend. If I hadn't loved her we wouldn't have spent all that time together."
Diakite said he didn't remember calling a friend and telling him he had punched Miss Elliott-Cleverley several times - or doing it - and also didn't remember telling medics at a police station that he had hit her.
Asked if he was being a "coward", Diakite said he didn't know what the word meant.
The trial has heard at 0.41am that Friday, Diakte left a WhatsApp voicemail message with a friend, asking him to send some money.
Mr Unsworth earlier played the 18-second voicemail to the jury, during which he said a person "breathing heavily" could be heard.
Some members of Miss Elliott-Cleverley's family left the courtroom beforehand, while others sobbed in the public gallery as it was played.
Mr Unsworth asked Diakite: "That was N'Taya, wasn't it?"
Diakite replied: "I don't know."
The QC said: "Had you beaten her by then?"
"No," Diakite replied.
Mr Unsworth asked: "And as you were to tell your friend Mr Donzo, did you 'finish it'? By strangling her after that point?"
Diakite did not reply.
(Proceeding)
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