A New Brunswick woman, whose toddler was allegedly killed by her boyfriend 12 years ago, says she is grateful to law officials who never gave up seeking justice for her little girl.

"I respect and appreciate the hard work that the RCMP and the Crown prosecutors have been doing to have this matter resolved," Connie Corrigan said on Wednesday, outside the second-degree murder trial of James Paul Turpin in Fredericton.

Turpin, 37, is accused of killing Kennedy Corrigan in her Central Blissville home in 2004, while in his care. She suffered a massive brain injury, which he had attributed to a fall in the bathtub.

Corrigan was the Crown's first witness to testify on Monday and continues to attend the Court of Queen's Bench trial, clutching her dead daughter's stuffed Winnie the Pooh bear.

James Paul Turpin is charged with second-degree murder in the 2004 death of two-year-old Kennedy Corrigan. (CBC) "Justice for Kennedy," she told CBC News, speaking publicly for the first time.

Corrigan says she has tried to move on with her life and now has a nine-year-old son. "I've just tried to live my life well in [Kennedy's] honour and in hopes that we'll see each other again."

But she always had "hope and faith and prayer" that charges would eventually be laid, so she could have some closure and "begin a healing process."

Turpin wasn't charged in the case until June 2015, when RCMP said new evidence came to light in the case.

Suspicions of sexual assault

Nancy Tremblay, a nurse at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, broke down in tears Wednesday testifying about the day Kennedy Corrigan came in by ambulance. (Catherine Harrop/CBC) He has remained in custody since then and police have said the new information would be revealed in court.

On Wednesday, the judge and jury trial heard about suspicions of sexual assault.

Nurse Nancy Tremblay broke down in tears testifying about April 2, 2004, the day Kennedy was brought to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital by ambulance.

Tremblay said she noticed the unconscious toddler's vagina and rectum were very slack and open.

She said she pointed it out to one of the doctors.

"I was worried about that for years," said Tremblay, starting to cry.

"I've thought of her for years," she said.

I have seen a lot and I've seen plenty since. But she's the one. She'll be with me. - Nancy Tremblay, registered nurse

"I have seen a lot and I've seen plenty since. But she's the one. She'll be with me."

Although the little girl had reportedly been in the bathtub, her hair was dry, said Tremblay.

She described Turpin as being "hysterical."

He kept yelling, "Kennedy, wake up," she said, as Turpin looked on from the prisoner's box, impassive.

Fellow nurse Dorothy Hall also felt Turpin's behaviour was "over the top."

At one point, Turpin, who was wearing only his underwear and a T-shirt, "fell to his knees, crying," she told the courtroom.

Extra security was called in to remove Turpin from the trauma room so medical personnel could tend to Kennedy.

Hall, who removed Kennedy's panties to insert a catheter, said the toddler's "genitals were lax."

"I questioned the pediatrician about whether she had been sexually abused," said Hall.

The doctor said he was not concerned about any sexual involvement. He told her when children are unconscious, their muscles relax, she said.

Told mother her daughter would be OK

Hall said she will never forget telling Kennedy's mother that she would be OK.

"I never forgave myself for telling her that, because she wasn't," she said.

Kennedy was airlifted to the IWK Hospital in Halifax, but died on April 9, when she was taken off life support.

Insp. Greg Lupson testified Turpin told him he was putting Kennedy and his own daughter in the tub, when his daughter took off. Turpin said he chased her and Kennedy ended up falling in the tub and hitting her head, Lupson said.

But on April 3, Lupson received a call from family services, informing him a doctor at the IWK felt Kennedy's injuries were inconsistent with a fall.

Following a telephone conversation with that doctor at 9 p.m., the house was treated as a crime scene, he said.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard Kennedy's toilet training pottie, which was normally kept in the bathroom, was never found.

In addition, some of her bedding was in the washing machine, while her pyjamas and one of her sweaters were in a bucket in the basement sink, along with a mop.

The trial is scheduled to resume on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Seventeen days have been set aside.

A jury of seven women and five men is hearing the case before Justice Judy Clendening.

Two-year-old Kennedy Corrigan suffered a massive brain injury on April 2, 2004, and died a week later at the IWK Hospital in Halifax. (Court exhibit)