The mother of a brave seven-year-old boy who broke down in court while giving evidence against her could now walk free, 17 years after allegedly killing her daughter.
Amanda Lewis was found guilty in 2008 of murdering her seven-year-old daughter Adrianna in an above-ground swimming pool at the family’s home in Esto, a small town in Florida’s Panhandle.
The mother of two was convicted after her then-seven-year-old son, AJ Hutto, testified in court that he saw his mother deliberately drown his sister.
AJ Hatto testified against his mother. Credit: ITV
It was a child’s drawing that got the mom convicted
His emotional testimony, delivered in February 2008, became the cornerstone of the prosecution’s case.
During the trial, AJ presented a drawing depicting stick figures around the pool, identifying one as his mother killing his sister.
When prosecutor Larry Basford asked him to explain the stick figure drawing, the young boy muttered: “That’s my momma… killing my sister.”
He told the court Lewis held Adrianna underwater with her hand over her face while he watched from a nearby tree.
The jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder and child abuse, and she was sentenced to life without parole plus an additional 30 years.
Basford followed up, asking what Lewis was doing as AJ replied: “Putting her hand over her face.”
In a shocking move, the case has been reopened after a judge was assigned to consider a motion of “post-conviction relief”, based on alleged rights violations.
The mother maintains her innocence, claiming Adrianna died in a freak accident
Lewis was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a trial shortly after the crime took place; however, after years of campaigning by her supporters and legal experts, she could now be released.
Her supporters claimed that Adrianna drowned by accident and Lewis was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Amanda Lewis was found guilty of murdering her daughter Adrianna Hutto. Credit: Florida Department of Corrections
At the time, Lewis claimed that her daughter drowned in a freak accident after slipping and falling into the pool while attempting to remove bugs from it.
In an interview with ABC News in 2010, she said she looked out the back door and AJ “was raking in the water with his hand, like he was trying to grab her.
“When I got to the pool.. she was face down… she was very purple, very blue.”
Lewis also claimed that AJ had been “coerced” into giving false testimony, saying in a 2016 interview, per The Independent: “I couldn’t believe they were doing this… I love him no matter what, I will always love him. He is in no way to blame for what happened.”
However, AJ has always stood by his testimony, saying in a recent interview: “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,” per Daily Mail.
He also reflected on the painful experience of testifying against his own mother. “It was heartbreaking. You know, she’s my mother,” he said. “But there was also some relief that what we were going through at the time was finally coming to an end.”
Now 24, AJ has chosen not to reconnect with his mother, as it is court-ordered that they cannot have contact. He explained: “I’ve wanted to keep it that way, just so nothing’s getting brought back up. All the feelings and emotions and the traumas getting brought into light.”
Featured image credit: ITV