A seven-year-old boy was asked to explain a picture he drew of his mum drowning his sister, as part of his testimony during her murder trial.
It was 2007 when mum-of-two, Amanda Lewis, was convicted of drowning her seven-year-old daughter, Adrianna Hutto, in their garden paddling pool in Florida.
But up until the point of her being charged with the crime, authorities had been informed by Lewis that her daughter's death was a tragic accident.
The mother claimed that Adrianna had fallen into the pool and was found face-down.
Advert
A recorded 911 call documented her claims, as she said: "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."
The little girl was swiftly taken to hospital, but tragically died soon after.
Advert
It wasn't until her brother, AJ Hutto, who was also seven at the time, confessed to his grandparents what he had witnessed in the garden.
The boy claimed that Adrianna had sprayed window cleaner in the living room over the TV, which made his mum 'mad'.
He subsequently witnessed her punishing the little girl, by holding her head under the water of the paddling pool.
AJ was later given the gruelling task of testifying against his own mum in court, and was asked by police to draw pictures of what exactly he saw, as the only eye witness present during the murder.
Advert
In court, the prosecutor asked him to explain a drawing he'd done showing stick figures around the pool.
"That’s my momma," he explained . "Killing my sister."
When they further questioned what exactly his mum was doing in the pictures, he added: "Putting her hand over her face."
Advert
AJ had not seen his mum in over six months at the point of the trial, and didn't realise that she was in the docks while he was testifying.
When he spotted her, broke down in tears, covering his face.
In 2008, she was sentenced to life in prison and was given an extra sentence for child abuse of 30 years.
Nearly two decades after the fateful day in court, AJ has 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.
Advert
"I just told them exactly what I saw word for word."
AJ 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."
Mia Williams