MONROE — Daniel Clay showed little emotion as he testified today about the night Chelsea Bruck died by his hands.

The 28-year-old Frenchtown Township man was the second and final witness for the defense. He is charged with open murder and concealing the death of an individual in the October, 2014, homicide of the 22-year-old woman from Maybee, Mich.

“I didn’t mean for her to die,” he said.

The defense called just two witnesses — the other was a forensic pathologist hired as an expert — after more than three days of testimony from 31 witnesses for the prosecution. Both the prosecution and the defense wrapped up their cases today in Monroe County Circuit Court. Clay admitted on the stand to killing Miss Bruck, but said her death was an accident during consensual rough sex.

Clay met Miss Bruck at a large Halloween party Oct. 25, 2014. He said they briefly engaged in consensual sex in the back of vehicle parked at the party, but were interrupted by someone knocking on the rear of the car. In the wee hours of the following morning, he saw her walking away from the party, down the road alone, and offered a ride. He pulled off along War Road a few miles later.

Clay said Miss Bruck asked him to choke her, a sex act known as erotic asphyxiation. He testified he had done this with previous partners and complied with Miss Bruck’s request. At one point, she went limp.

“When I released my hand, I didn’t hear that intake of breath,” he said, noting he tapped her and shook her trying to wake her up.

She was not breathing, nor could he feel a pulse, he said. He pulled her out of the back seat of the car and attempted CPR, but she was dead.

“I freaked out for a little while, not sure what to do,” he said, adding he was crying, hyperventilating, and having a panic attack. His cell phone had died earlier in the evening.

He said he loaded Miss Bruck’s body back into the car, possibly catching her head accidentally in the door, and drove around for about 30 minutes. He then stopped along Briar Hill Road and carried her body into the woods, where she would be found six months later on April 24, 2015.

Court will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday, at which time closing arguments are expected to begin.

Contact Alexandra Mester: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.

First Published May 15, 2017, 5:39 p.m.