At seven years old, A.J. Hutto became the key witness against his own mother in his sister’s murder case. Now 24, he’s sharing his story for the first time since that fateful testimony nearly two decades ago.
The facts remain seared in his memory: the scorching August day in 2007 when his sister Adrianna drowned in their family pool, his mother’s anger beforehand, and the moment he had to tell investigators “Mama dunked my sister.” His child’s drawing for the court – showing a stick figure woman covering another’s face – helped seal Amanda Lewis’s murder conviction.
A.J. describes finally finding stability with an adoptive family after years of abuse. As a firefighter, he’s channeled his childhood trauma into helping others, though he admits the memories still haunt him. “It was heartbreaking,” he says of his mother’s conviction. “But there was also relief.