A child witness, whose hands were too small to conceal his weeping eyes, had the fortitude to testify against his mother, stating that his 7-year-old sister was “dunked” in the pool when “mama got mad.” A.J. Hutto, now 24, is speaking out about appearing in court as a youngster after remaining silent for 17 years. He insists that his mother, Amanda Lewis, is “100% guilty.”
A young boy’s voice shattered a silent Florida courtroom in 2008 when he spoke up and revealed an unimaginable truth.
The legal ramifications of what he was doing were not quite understood by A.J. Hutto, whose new name is protected for privacy. He was just speaking the truth and attempting to make sense of something that he shouldn’t have had to see.
The 7-year-old boy, who was wearing light-colored trousers, a black knit sweater and a white button-up shirt, told in tragic detail how he saw his sister, Adrianna Hutto, die in their backyard pool.
The incident was initially thought to be an accidental drowning until A.J. told the authorities that his mother, Amanda Lewis, had killed his sister. This was far more terrifying.
Lewis’ rendition
Lewis, who works night shifts as a nurse’s assistant at a neighbouring nursing home, came home on August 8, 2007, and had a short nap while the children watched cartoons.
Lewis, who was 27 at the time, stated that the plan was straightforward: after a little rest, they would go “to shop for back-to-school supplies.”
However, when the sun rose and the temperature surged above 100 degrees, the children pleaded to cool themselves in the 4-foot-deep above-ground pool, which the mother insisted was completely off-limits without an adult present, according to an ABC article from 2010.
I informed them that since we were getting ready to leave, we couldn’t enter the pool today. As I prepared everything, kids wanted to play outside for a short bit,” she explained.
Lewis claimed that shortly after, her 6-year-old son, A.J., returned inside the home and informed his mother, “Mama, Adrianna is in the pool.”
I answered, “Okay, well, tell her to come in,” initially thinking he was referring to the possibility that she was near the pool.
Lewis noticed A.J. “raking in the water with his hand, like he was trying to grab [Adrianna]” when she peered out the rear door.
Lewis remarked, “I ran out, ran out of the house.” “She was face down when I arrived at the pool. She was really blue and purple.
After being transported to the hospital, the young girl passed away.
Lewis said what she did after a doctor informed her that Adrianna was dead: “I kissed her, I hugged her.” “I made contact with her. since I was aware that it would be my final encounter with her. I realised then that my baby was no longer with me.
At first, authorities thought the girl’s drowning was an accident.
A.J.’s rendition
Unaware that his mother’s destiny was in his small hands, 7-year-old A.J. walked into a courtroom full of strangers six months later.
My sister was submerged by Mama. In a previous police interview, the young boy stated, “My mother got upset because she did something she wasn’t supposed to do, so she threw her in the pool.”
A.J. drew a picture in court that showed him standing a few feet away near a tree, another stick figure floating over the pool, and another person adjacent to the pool.
He said that he was “playing” in a tree when the prosecution questioned him about his activities.
The pool then questioned him about the numbers.
In the video that was released from court, he said, “Mama.”
When questioned about his mother’s behaviour in his artwork, he responded, “Killing my sister.”
“What is she doing?” They asked A.J.
With a matter-of-fact voice that struck people in the heart, the kid told the court, “She put her hand over her face.”
A.J. had also scribbled “She did” and “too bad” on the left side of the sketch, which he explained meant that his sister “died” and that it was “scary.”
Lewis was convicted by the jury of aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder. She received a life sentence without the chance of release.
“Word for word”
A.J. started a new chapter away from the spotlight after the trial.
A devoted couple adopted him, gave him a new name, and he quietly vanished from the public eye.
He has never discussed the incidents that permanently altered his life in public since that tragic instance.
So far.
According to the Daily Mail, the 24-year-old, who is currently a firefighter, was not “coached or anything like that” for the trial and only discovered “later on in my teenage years” that his evidence had decided his mother’s fate.
A.J. stated that he was “really, really nervous…” as a child and that he simply told them exactly what he saw, word for word. Having everyone staring at you and everything. However, I was just relieved that it was finished.
Darkness
A.J. described his early years spent with his sister and Lewis as “just darkness, trauma.” A great deal of mistreatment. Adrianna and I were both struck and subjected to physical abuse.
When I told a judge at the age of seven that my mother drowned my sibling, I became viral. 17 years later, I’m breaking my silence: https://t.co/3ki6AN2GeD pic.twitter.com/eSz0RJ3qju
— April 6, 2025, Daily Mail US (@DailyMail)
“I kind of remember some things about my previous life because it’s been a long time since I’ve had to talk about it,” he said, adding that life with his new family was full of love and happiness—a “360 difference.”
And I recall the abuse for the most part. We wouldn’t even anticipate it at times. Regarding himself and Adrianna, his “best friend,” he remarked, “It was literally at times we were blindsided.”
Since his testimony, A.J. has not seen his mother: “We are not allowed to see each other due to a court order, and I have wanted to maintain it that way, just to ensure that nothing is brought up again. “All the emotions and feelings as well as the traumas are being rediscovered,” he stated.
“It was heartbreaking,” he continued. She is my mother, you know. The fact that what we were going through at the time was finally coming to an end, however, also brought some relief.
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