Tragic moment boy had to tell court his mum drowned his sister
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The heartbreaking testimony of a seven-year-old boy ended up putting his mother behind bars for life.
At the age of just seven, AJ Hutto took to the stand in a US courtroom to recount the chilling details about what led up to his half-sister's death.
On 8 August 2007, Adrianna Elaine Hutto was found unresponsive in a pool at the family home in Esto, Florida, before being pronounced dead an hour after being rushed to the hospital.
Advert
Her mother, Amanda Lewis, had called 911 and claimed that she found her daughter, 7, lying 'face down' in the pool, later telling the TV show 20/20: "She was very purple, very blue."
"[AJ] was raking in the water with his hand, like he was trying to grab her," Lewis said, as per ABC. "I ran out, ran out of the house. When I got to the pool...she was face down. She was very purple, very blue."
It was initially thought that Adrianna had been the victim of a tragic accident while she had been playing with her younger brother in the garden without supervision.
However, investigators soon realised that something more sinister had gone on - as AJ revealed that he had watched his mother 'dunk' his older sister underwater.
"Mama dunked my sister," AJ said. "She done some stuff that she ain't suppose so my mama got mad, so she throwed her in the pool."
AJ told police officers that he had watched Lewis submerge the little girl in the pool as punishment for misbehaving, resulting in her being arrested in September 2007.
The 27-year-old single mum, who was working at a nursing home at the time, faced charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse at a trial which took place six months after her daughter's death.
The case prosecutors waged against Lewis largely hinged on what AJ had witnessed, and the little boy took to the stand to testify against his mother.
In court, he was asked to explain a picture he had drawn of stick figures gathered around the pool.
Explaining that it depicted Lewis 'putting her hand over [Adrianna's] face', AJ added: "That's my mama. Killing my sister."
Judge Allen Register deemed the seven-year-old lad to be a competent witness, despite his tender age and the trauma he had been subjected to.
Lewis was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Adrianna's murder, as well as an additional 30 years for aggravated child abuse.
She has continued to claim her innocence and submitted an appeal in 2010, but this was rejected.
She also appeared on an episode of Piers Morgan's ITV series, Killer Women, in 2016, where she maintained that she was 'innocent'.
In the wake of his mother's conviction, AJ was adopted by a 'Good Christian' family, who he has since explained invited him into a 'happier household' that was filled with 'love'.
The now 24-year-old, who is a firefighter and married, told the Daily Mail earlier this year: "It was good. It was a lot better. My childhood with [Lewis] was, it was almost a 360 difference, completely different.
"Just darkness, trauma. A lot of abuse. Physically abused, both Adrianna and I were hit. The difference between the two families was night and day."
He said that he 'stands by every word' he said in court as a seven-year-old and believes that his mother is 'one hundred percent guilty', despite her denials.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Olivia Burke