The boy who testified in court that his mother killed his sister when he was seven years old has spoken out for the first time in 17 years.
On August 8, 2007, Adrianna Hutto, a seven-year-old girl, was found face-down in her family’s swimming pool in Esto, Florida.
Initially believed to be a tragic accident, the case took a shocking turn after her young half-brother, AJ Hutto, testified in court that he had witnessed his mother, Amanda Lewis, drown Adrianna as punishment.
AJ, who was just seven years old at the time, took the stand in 2008 and provided heartbreaking details of the incident that would ultimately lead to his mother’s conviction.
AJ Hutto’s Testimony
In his emotional testimony, AJ explained that his mother, Amanda, had become angry with his sister for misbehaving.
“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,” he said during a videotaped police interview.
AJ also recalled drawing stick figures around the pool during his testimony, telling the prosecutor: “That’s my mama. Killing my sister.”
His account included a haunting description of his mom putting her hand over Adrianna’s face in the pool, a scene that was burned into his memory.
AJ’s testimony, along with his detailed drawings, helped secure Amanda Lewis’s conviction.
She was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder and an additional 30 years for aggravated child abuse.
Lewis's Continued Claims of Innocence
Despite her conviction, Amanda has maintained her innocence, repeatedly claiming that her daughter’s death was a tragic accident and that AJ had been "coerced" into giving false testimony.
“I couldn’t believe they were doing this… I love him no matter what, I will always love him,” she said in a 2016 interview, per The Independent. “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."
AJ’s Life After the Trial
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.”
He has since found a new sense of peace with his adoptive family, describing his life with them as a "much happier household".
He also spoke about the abuse he and Adrianna endured growing up, describing it as a “darkness, trauma” in their household.
“A lot of abuse. Physically abused, both Adrianna and I were hit,” he recalled. “The difference between the two families was night and day.”
"It’s been a long time since I’ve had to talk about it, so I kind of remember some things about my previous life," he continued. "And for the most part, I remember the abuse. Sometimes we wouldn’t even see it coming. It was literally sometimes we were blindsided.”