7-Year-Old Breaks Down in Court Testifying Against Mom Who Killed His Little Sister

7-Year-Old Breaks Down in Court Testifying Against Mom Who Killed His Little Sister

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He was only 7 years old, barely tall enough for his feet to touch the courtroom floor. But when he opened his mouth, the words that came out would send his mother to prison for life. >> What is this right here? >> My mama. >> And what is she doing? >> Killing my sister. >> He cried as he spoke, but he never took them back. Not then, not 17 years later.

This is the story of the boy who testified against his own mother and the crime he swears he saw with his own eyes. Esto, Florida, August 8th, 2007. A tiny rural town where the loudest sound most mornings is the rustle of pine trees and the breeze. Amanda Lewis had just come home from a night shift at a nursing home.

 By all accounts, it was a normal morning. She was a young single mother, 27 years old, raising two kids, 7-year-old AJ. Quiet but sharp, and her daughter Aana, who would turn 8 in just a few weeks. According to Amanda, the morning started like any other, but by 10:00 a.m. she was screaming into a phone, begging 911 to hurry. Amanda’s voice was frantic.

 She told dispatch that Adriana had fallen into the pool and she wasn’t breathing. >> 911, I’m angle it, please. 911. >> I need an ambulance. >> What’s wrong, ma’am? >> My daughter fell in the pole when she’s not breathing. >> Where at, ma’am? Uh, >> in Esto. >> Ma’am, what’s your address? >> 3343 First Avenue South. >> 3343 First Avenue South.

>> Yes. Down the road from the post office at the very end. >> What’s your phone number, ma’am? >> 850230759. >> And she’s not breathing. How old is she? >> She’s seven years old. >> All right, hang on just a second, ma’am. >> Oh god. Just a second. Ma’am, >> her lips are purple. What do I do? >> Ma’am, >> water’s just coming out of her nose.

>> Ma’am. >> Huh? >> You said water’s coming out of her nose. >> Yes, I’ve got her on her side and she’s coming out of her nose every time I move her. >> Okay, hang on just a second. >> Please hurry. >> Rescue. Yes, ma’am. I’ve got them on the way. I’m going to see if they can do something to help you.

 Hang on just a moment. Rescue one. They’re advising. They’ve got her laid over on her side coming out of her nose. Is there anything they can do to you get themselves? Hang on just at >> Does she have a fault, ma’am? >> No, she’s not got nothing. She is purple. >> She don’t Hang on just a second. >> Everything’s purple. >> She’s at violence. She’s purple.

 No fault. No breathing. >> Hang on just a second, ma’am. Okay, ma’am. I’ve got rescue on the way and I’m fixing to get you someone else. Okay. >> Okay. It’s I’m gonna call you right back in just a few minutes. Emergency responders arrived within minutes to find the little girl pale, limp, and cold.

 They worked on her frantically all the way to Bay Medical Center, but by late morning, the doctors had stopped. Adriana was gone. Amanda would later tell police she was doing chores around the house when she realized the backyard was too quiet, too still, and then the scream. At first, it looked like a tragic, heartbreaking accident.

 Adriana had a history of seizures and police were told she might have fallen in during one. The town mourned. People brought casserles and whispered about how cruel fate could be. The explanation Amanda gave seemed reasonable. But within 24 hours, that explanation turned into something far darker. The very next day, Amanda’s son, AJ, began telling people something no one was prepared for.

 He started talking not just to family but to anyone who would listen. And what he said was devastating. In his small matter of fact voice he said mama had done it. >> So my mom got mad and so she th in the pool and then she told her to go somewhere and she said no cuz mom was going >> and then mom had to go get in the car to go get Adrian and then Adrian was trying to escape from mama and then mama pulled her back in the car and then once they got back home, mama throw her back in the pool and then she started drowning again.

>> Adriana started drowning. And then when she had to take a shower, mama told my mom told me to go get. And then when I was standing in the wagon, she was dead. >> So you stood up in the wagon. Okay. >> He claimed he had seen it happen. He told investigators his mother was angry about something Adriana had done.

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 So she had taken her to the pool, dunked her in the water, held her there until she stopped moving. The boy repeated his account over and over. Each time with the same haunting detail she held her under. >> Adrian was playing like this and mom holding him so she went scream. >> Police who just a day earlier had been leaning toward tragic accident were now thinking possible homicide.

 And then they went back to the house. Inside Adriana’s bedroom officers noticed something strange. almost no toys, no stuffed animals, no coloring books, no clutter that usually fills a child’s space. Neighbors whispered that the girl had been in trouble often, that Amanda could be strict. There was a bruise on Adriana’s forehead, the shape of it.

Some thought it looked like a handprint. Amanda maintained it was an accident, that Adriana’s history of seizures had caused her to fall in. She agreed to a lie detector test and passed. But the image of a little boy saying, “Mama dunked my sister in the pool was now burned into the investigator’s minds.” In September 2007, Amanda Lewis was arrested for first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

 Fast forward to February 2008. The case had drawn statewide attention. The prosecution’s star witness was not a scientist, not a detective, but a second grader. The day AJ walked into that courtroom, the air was thick. He had just turned seven. He was small for his age, his feet swinging above the floor as he sat in the witness chair.

 He had not seen his mother in 6 months. When he finally recognized her, the courtroom felt like it stopped breathing. And then the tears came. >> Hey, Jake. >> So, >> give me your hand. All right. Here. Here. The tears didn’t stop the questions. The state attorney stood beside the boy, speaking softly. AJ began to talk haltingly at first, then with more detail.

>> They want to know how Adriana died. >> Yes. So, >> now I wasn’t there, AJ, was I? >> No. So, >> were you there when she died? >> Yes. So, >> can you tell them how she died? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Now, AJ, I want you to come over here. We’re going to put these some photographs up here. Okay. >> Okay. Come on over here.

Right. [Music] Hop up right here. I think you’re going to have to kneel down right there. Kneel down. Okay. Now, what is this right here? Who is this or what is this? >> My mama. >> Okay. And what is she doing? >> Killing my sister. >> How is she doing that, AJ? >> Putting her hand over her face. Would you would you show me how she put her hand over your sister’s face? Huh? >> No.

 So, >> you don’t want to do that? >> No. So, >> okay. Who is this? >> My mother. >> And who is this? >> My sister. >> What is this right here? >> My mother’s arm. >> Your mother’s arm. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. What does this mean right here? She did >> die. What? >> She died. >> She died. Okay. You mean your sister died? >> Okay. What? This too bad.

 What does that mean? >> That means it’s scary. >> Was scary. When this was happening, could you see it? >> So, >> was that a yes or a no? Yes. >> He told the jury he had watched his mother put Audriana in the pool and hold her there. He said his sister struggled, splashed, and then went still. He even drew a picture for the jury.

 Stick figures, the pool, and small figure beneath the water. No one in that room would ever forget it. After 4 days of testimony, the jury deliberated for just 2 hours. Amanda Lewis was found guilty of firstdegree murder and aggravated child abuse. >> Members of the jury, I understand you’ve reached a verdict. Yes, sir.

>> Madam clerk, at this time, if you would read the verdict for the court, please. >> State of Florida versus Amanda Elaine Lewis, case number 07282 CF. Verdict. We the jury find as follows as to the defendant Amanda Elaine Lewis as to count one in this case. The defendant is guilty as charged of firstdegree felon murder.

 We the jury find as follows as to the defendant Amanda Elaine Lewis as to count two in this case. The defendant is guilty as charged of aggravated child abuse. So say we all. Dated this 22nd day of February 2008. Signed Eugene E person. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> Lewis, under Florida law, there are only two possible penalties that can be imposed for the crime of first-degree felony murder.

 They are either death or life imprisonment. This court judges you to be guilty of that crime and sentences you to imprisonment in the Florida Department of Corrections for the remainder of your life. Amanda has never stopped insisting she’s innocent and that Audriana’s death was a tragic accident brought on by her medical condition.

>> My name is Amanda Lewis. I lost my kids and my freedom in the blink of an eye and I am innocent. >> She says she doesn’t blame AJ, that she still loves him and believes he was confused, maybe manipulated. Everything he said was not true, but everything wasn’t a lie. I believe what happened.

 He took a series of events and put them all in one day. Um, she had gotten in trouble for spraying something a week prior and he put it that it happened that morning. So, everything he said was not a lie. I just believe he fabricated a series of events into one day. >> 17 years after that fateful day in court, AJ Huau, now grown, finally spoke publicly about his experience, though under the condition that his new identity remain a secret.

 In a recent interview with True Crime Central, he reaffirmed the words he spoke as a 7-year-old. Despite the immense emotional toll it took on him and having no idea his testimony would send his mother to prison for her entire life, he maintained that his account was truthful. Stating that his mother is 100% guilty and that he stand by every word he said.

 He reflected on the contrast between his life then and now, revealing that he was adopted by a good Christian family and now lives in a happier household. Far removed from the home he knew during those first seven years with Amanda Lewis. His statement is a haunting reminder of the clarity and conviction a child can carry.

 Even through the trauma of testifying against a parent, a pool in a quiet Florida backyard, a little boy with a story no one wanted to believe until they did, and a mother whose life now depends on whether he was telling the truth or a terrible mistake. Was justice truly served, or did a 7-year-old carry the weight of a tragedy he might not fully have understood? Could a child’s testimony ever be completely reliable? or did the system put him in an impossible position? Comment below and tell me what you think. Here’s two more

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