Briana Faucette died of severe burns the next morning, Dec. 20, 2005, and Wilson, 23, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder, felony child abuse inflicting serious injury and first-degree kidnapping. She will serve 31 to 40 years in state prison.

"I don't deserve to be forgiven," Wilson said through Assistant Public Defender Caitlin Fenhagen. "If I had a chance to let her live and me die, I would do it in a second."

Wilson wept openly at Thursday's plea hearing, as did members of Briana's family. More than 20 of them filled the first three rows of the Battle Courtroom at the Orange County Courthouse.

"Over two years later, we are still tormented," said Briana's great-aunt Brenda Harmless. "Christmas will never be the same for us again."

Sherry Faucette left Briana and her 6-month-old sister, Taylor, with Wilson, her best friend, on the afternoon of Dec. 19 so Faucette and her husband, Keith, could shop for Christmas gifts. The two children stayed overnight with Wilson.

Briana fell asleep on a couch with Wilson, and the child awoke after midnight, soaked in her own vomit, with a diaper full of urine and feces.

Briana was potty-training at the time. Prosecutors say Wilson filled the bathtub with about 7 inches of hot water and forced the child to sit in it. Investigators later found the temperature of the water coming out of the spigot at 140 degrees.

"We are submitting that the motive was anger over a toilet-training issue," said Assistant District Attorney Kayley Taber. "At 140 degrees, really serious and permanent damage would have been done to that child very quickly."

A mistake committed in anger turned into murder because Wilson did not seek medical attention for Briana but instead let her fall asleep on the floor while she was going into shock, Orange-Chatham District Attorney James Woodall said.

Medical examiners found not only bruises on her face and arms but also skin and hair missing from her body, along with cockroach bites and dog hair from lying on the floor.

"She may have survived if she had gotten prompt medical attention," Woodall said, explaining the kidnapping charge. "She was not doing the one thing that she needed to do, which was call 911."

Doctors told prosecutors Briana could have suffered from shock for about six hours before she died. Wilson called 911 about 12 hours after the scalding, and only at the advice of her father, one of several people she called that morning asking what to do.

Investigators found a clump of about 1,000 hairs from Briana's head in a trash can, and Taber said Wilson probably pulled the girl by the hair before or after the scalding.

Taber said Wilson hid various injuries with a clean diaper and clothing.

"The defendant had actually pulled the child's hair back in a ponytail to cover up the missing hair," she said.

Public Defender James Williams affirmed most of the prosecution's case but said some of Briana's bruising might have occurred after her scalding as Wilson and then emergency responders tried to help her.

"Two of the people she loved most in the world, she ended up hurting most in the world," Williams said.

"I was the one who was supposed to protect her," Wilson said through Fenhagen. "I let everyone down."