Heart-wrenching moment 7-year-old boy who testified against his own mum saw her for the first time in six months during murder trial
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: ITV
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A seven-year-old boy who testified against his mother in a murder trial, broke down in tears after realising she was in the court room.
In 2007, Amanda Lewis was convicted of drowning her seven-year-old daughter, Adrianna Hutto, in their garden paddling pool in Florida.
But prior to her conviction, the little one's death was deemed a devastating accident, in which she had slipped into the pool and subsequently drowned.
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At least this was what Lewis claimed when she rang the emergency services.
It wasn't until her seven-year-old half-brother, AJ Hutto, revealed the eerie reality of what really happened.
Lewis claimed that she found her daughter face-down in the pool, and started CPR on the young girl as prompted by emergency services.
During the 911 call, she could be heard saying: "Send an ambulance please. My daughter fell in the pool and she's not breathing.
"Her lips are purple, what do I do? Water’s just coming out of her nose."
After being taken to hospital, Adrianna died shortly afterwards.
However, in a recorded police interview, AJ told officials that he witnessed his mum 'dunk' Adrianna in the pool as punishment for misbehaving.
The young boy said: "Mama dunked my sister. She done some stuff that she ain't suppose so my mama got mad, so she throwed her in the pool."
AJ was later given the gruelling task of testifying against his own mum in court, not realising that she was sitting in the docks and witnessing his speech.
The seven-year-old hadn't seen his mum in over six months at this point and reportedly broke down in tears upon spotting her.
Lewis was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to life in jail, with an extra 30 years for child abuse in 2008, the Daily Record reports.
In 2016, the mum made an appearance on ITV's Killer Women to 'prove that I’m innocent. Proving what he said I didn’t do'.
In the segment, Lewis claimed she 'couldn't believe they were doing this' when her son testified against her in court, adding per the Independent: "I love him no matter what, I will always love him. He is in no way blame him for what happened."
Nearly two decades after the fateful day in court, AJ has recently looked back on the proceedings and told the Daily Mail: "I don't believe I was, what they've called, coached or anything like that.
"I just told them exactly what I saw word for word."
AJ - who is now 24 and lives under a different name - explained that he didn't notice his mum in court after being separated from her for a number of months, continuing: "It was heartbreaking. You know, she's my mother.
"But there was also some relief that what we were going through at the time was finally coming to an end."
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.