{"id":3011,"date":"2026-11-12T20:46:41","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2026-11-12T20:46:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:46:51","slug":"boy-who-testified-mom-killed-sister-speaks-out-after-17-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/?p=3011","title":{"rendered":"Boy who testified mom killed sister speaks out after 17 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though his tiny hands were too small to hide his teary-eyed face, a pint-sized witness found the courage to testify against his mother, revealing that \u201cmama got mad\u201d and \u201cdunked\u201d his 7-year-old sister in the pool. After 17 years of silence, A.J. Hutto, now 24, is speaking out on addressing the court as a child, maintaining that his mother, Amanda Lewis, is \u201c100% guilty.\u201d
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Aj Hutto. Credit \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Though his tiny hands were too small to hide his teary-eyed face, a pint-sized witness found the courage to testify against his mother, revealing that \u201cmama got mad\u201d and \u201cdunked\u201d his 7-year-old sister in the pool. After 17 years of silence, A.J. Hutto, now 24, is speaking out on addressing the court as a child, maintaining that his mother, Amanda Lewis, is \u201c100% guilty.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 2008, a quiet Florida courtroom was shaken by the voice of a little boy who stepped up to share an unthinkable truth.<\/p>\n

A.J. Hutto \u2013 his new name is protected for privacy \u2013 didn\u2019t fully grasp the legal weight of what he was doing. He was simply telling the truth, trying to make sense of something he never should\u2019ve had to witness.<\/p>\n

The 7-year-old child, neatly dressed in a white button shirt, black knit vest, and light-colored pants, described in heartbreaking detail the moment he watched his sister, Adrianna Hutto, drown in their family\u2019s backyard swimming pool.<\/p>\n

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At first, the incident was considered an accidental drowning until A.J. described to police something far more chilling \u2013 he said his mother, Amanda Lewis, had killed his sister.<\/p>\n

Lewis\u2019 version<\/h2>\n

On August 8, 2007, Lewis, a nurse\u2019s assistant working night shifts at a nearby nursing home, returned home and laid down for a quick nap while the kids watched cartoons.<\/p>\n

The plan was simple: a little rest, then off \u201cto shop for back-to-school supplies,\u201d Lewis, then 27, said.<\/p>\n

But as the sun climbed higher and temperatures soared past 100 degrees, the kids begged to cool off in the above ground pool, about 4-foot deep, that according to the mother was strictly off-limits without an adult present, ABC reported in 2010.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI told them that we couldn\u2019t get in the pool today because we were getting ready to go. So, they wanted to go outside and play for a few minutes while I got everything ready,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Moments later, Lewis said her young son, 6-year-old A.J., walked back inside the house and told his mother, \u201cMama, Adrianna is in the pool,\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I thought he meant maybe she was by the pool, and I said, okay, well, tell her to come in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When Lewis looked out the back door, she saw A.J. \u201craking in the water with his hand, like he was trying to grab [Adrianna].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran out, ran out of the house,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cWhen I got to the pool\u2026she was face down\u2026She was very purple, very blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The little girl was airlifted to hospital where she later died.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kissed her, I hugged her,\u201d Lewis said of what she did after a doctor told her that Adrianna was dead. \u201cI touched her. Because I knew that it would be the last time, the last time I\u2019d see her. I knew right then my baby was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities at first believed the girl\u2019s drowning was accidental.<\/p>\n

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A.J.\u2019s version<\/h2>\n

Six months later, 7-year-old A.J. entered a courtroom full of strangers, not understanding that the fate of his mother rested in his tiny hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cMama dunked my sister. She done some stuff that she ain\u2019t suppose so my mama got mad, so she throwed her in the pool,\u201d the little boy said earlier in an interview with police.<\/p>\n

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In court, A.J. drew a photo that showed one stick figure next to the pool, a second floating over it, and him several feet away by a tree.<\/p>\n

When prosecutors asked what he was doing, he said \u201cplaying\u201d in a tree.<\/p>\n

Next, he was asked about the figures by the pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cMama,\u201d he said in the clip shared from court.<\/p>\n

\u201cKilling my sister,\u201d he replied when asked about his mother\u2019s actions in his drawing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is she doing that?\u201d A.J. was asked.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPutting her hand over her face,\u201d the boy told the court, his matter-of-fact delivery punching people in the heart.<\/p>\n

On the left side of the sketch, A.J. had also written \u201cShe did\u201d and \u201ctoo bad,\u201d which he clarified meant his sister \u201cdied\u201d and that it was \u201cscary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

\u2018Word for word\u2019<\/h2>\n

After the trial, A.J. began a new chapter far from the public eye.<\/p>\n

He was adopted by a loving couple, given a new name, and quietly disappeared from the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Since that heartbreaking case, he\u2019s never spoken publicly about the events that changed his life forever.<\/p>\n

Until now.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old, now a firefighter, told the Daily Mail that he wasn\u2019t \u201ccoached or anything like that\u201d for the trial and only realized \u201clater on in my teenager years\u201d that his testimony determined the fate of his mother.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI just told them exactly what I saw word for word,\u201d A.J. said, adding that as a child, he was \u201creally, really nervous\u2026Having all those people looking at you and all that. But I was just glad it was over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darkness<\/h2>\n

Speaking of his childhood with his sister and Lewis, A.J. shared that it was \u201cjust darkness, trauma. A lot of abuse. Physically abused, both Adrianna and I were hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve had to talk about it, so I kind of remember some things about my previous life,\u201d he said, adding that life with his adopted family was filled with love and happiness \u2013 a \u201c360 difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for the most part, I remember the abuse. Sometimes we wouldn\u2019t even see it coming. It was literally sometimes we were blindsided,\u201d he said of him and Adrianna, who was his \u201cbest friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

A.J. hasn\u2019t seen his mother since his testimony: \u201cIt\u2019s court appointed that we cannot see each other, and I\u2019ve wanted to keep it that way, just so nothing\u2019s getting brought back up\u2026 all the feelings and emotions and the traumas getting brought back into light,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cIt was heartbreaking. You know, she\u2019s my mother. But there was also some relief that what we were going through at the time was finally coming to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are your memories of this high-profile case involving a child testifying against his mother? Please let us know your thoughts and then share this story so we can get the conversation started!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though his tiny hands were too small to hide his teary-eyed face, a pint-sized witness found the courage to testify against his mother, revealing that \u201cmama got mad\u201d and \u201cdunked\u201d his 7-year-old sister in the pool. After 17 years of silence, A.J. Hutto, now 24, is speaking out on addressing the court as a child,…<\/p>\n

Read More “Boy who testified mom killed sister speaks out after 17 years”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3014,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions\/3014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameroco.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}