The Death of Adrianna Hutto

Adrianna Elaine Hutto was born on September 16, 1999. She was a beautiful little girl with a big smile, and she was spunky, but she was later diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which made her super hyper, so hyper that it tended to drive her mother almost insane. Adrianna had a little brother, AJ Hutto, who would eventually witness an act so atrocious, he would end up testifying in court for it.

It was on August 8, 2007, a 911 call came in by Amanda Lewis, the children's mother. Adrianna had fallen into the pool and she was blue and unconscious.

Paramedics arrived to find Amanda with Adrianna lying on the ground near the pool, assuming the child was pulled out of the pool. Resuscitation efforts were put into motion as she was placed in the ambulance. But sadly, their efforts proved fruitless as she was pronounced dead after an hour at the hospital. An autopsy was performed and the death was deemed accidental due to drowning. The case was then closed.

That is, until Adrianna's half-brother AJ, who was just 6 at the time of the event, told police that he had actually witnessed his mother "dunking" his sister in the pool. This prompts an immediate reopening of the case.

Investigators searched the home for any clues as to what happened that day. They found that the children had no toys in the house and that it was filthy. When questioned by police, Amanda stated that the children had gotten in trouble and as punishment, their toys were stored in the shed. Alright, seems pretty reasonable. But when they searched the shed, there were no signs of any toys nor that there had ever been any.

Police questioned the emergency room physician, Dr. Renee Fox, who tended to Adrianna that day and asked if there was anything strange that happened. Dr. Fox stated that Amanda, having just received the message that her daughter had passed away, had no emotion or reaction to finding out. Almost like she was stone cold.

Amanda was brought in for questioning where she voluntarily agreed to do a polygraph test, and ultimately passing it. But she was still charged in September 2007 for first-degree murder of Adrianna. She was offered a plea deal that if she pled guilty to manslaughter, she would only have a ten-year sentence and would not have to go to trial. She denied the plea in favor of having a trial.

It was set for February 2008. AJ and Dr. Fox were the prosecution's star witnesses. The defense tried to fight AJ's, now 7, testimony saying that he was an unreliable witness and his story changed way too often, adding his age as another factor. It didn't matter to the court, AJ was still going to testify against his mother because one thing in his stories stayed the same. He saw his mother drown his sister.

Throughout the trial, a bunch of evidence was presented to the jury. Autopsy reports and pictures showed that there were fingerprint-shaped bruises on Adrianna's forehead, cheeks, and chin. Essentially matching AJ's statement, he even acted out how he saw his mother drown his sister.

When prosecutors asked Dr. Fox about her findings and to demonstrate how the bruises would have been inflicted, she proceeded to place her hand on her face in the same motion as AJ, thus proving that he actually witnessed the murder.

The prosecution painted Amanda as a distant parent. She rarely cleaned her house, the children had no toys, other than the pool and a red wagon. A coworker even testified saying that Amanda would say she "was going to kill her," when talking about Adrianna and the hyperactivity. During closing arguments, it was basically retelling that Amanda killed her daughter because she couldn't deal with how hyper Adrianna was and didn't want to deal with it anymore.

Four days after the case went to trial and two hours later, the jury reached their verdict. Amanda was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

In March of that same year, Amanda was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She tried fighting the conviction by appealing in 2010 but was unsuccessful.

So did she really do it?

Was it truly an accident?

I'm convinced by AJ's and Dr. Fox's statements. How can two people who don't know each other essentially paint the same picture of that day? AJ may have been young and couldn't remember where he was standing or what he was doing because those details were irrelevant. Watching a murder leaves a very vivid memory and it's haunting that he was just 6 years old when he witnessed it. No child should have to see that at all.

You can also watch the full trial on CourtTV if at all interested.