Do I have a chance to get sole custody since he has been in and out of her life?

My daughter’s father and I wasn't married. When my daughter was born, he did not have a job. When my daughter was nine months old, he called a friend of ours to watch his daughter that way he could leave. I was at work that the time this was happening. We was living with my father at the time. After he had left, I tried to get him into her life by calling him to come see his daughter. He did at first and then stop wanting to come and I stop trying to call him. He saw her for her first birthday and then no contract at all until April 20 of this year the day before her birthday. He wanted to give her an Easter basket. In September 2014, I learn from someone that he was telling people that I wouldn't let him see her. He had not tried to make any contract. In October, I took my daughter to the park and he happen to walk by and apologize to me for not contacting her. He was telling me he was feeling guilty for not trying to be in her life. Then to go on to say he was moving back to move in with his dad. He was having a hard time here. I have been the sole provider for my daughter since the beginning and he is on her birth certificate.