Son Who Sent His Mom To Prison At 7 Breaks Silence For The First Time Since Life Sentence

When AJ Hutto was just seven years old, he stood in a Florida courtroom and pointed at his own mother, accusing her of killing his 7-year-old half-sister, Adrianna. His small voice and heartbreaking testimony helped send his mother, Amanda Lewis, to prison for life.

Seventeen years later, AJ has grown into a young man living a completely different life. He now has a new identity, a new family, and a sense of peace he didn’t know as a child. Despite the years that have passed, he has never doubted what he said in court. Speaking with the *Daily Mail*, AJ, now 24, said without hesitation, “One hundred percent guilty. I stand by every word I said.”

AJ was adopted into a loving Christian home after the trial, and he says the difference between that environment and the one he grew up in with Amanda was like night and day. His early childhood, he said, was filled with fear and abuse. He and Adrianna were often hit and mistreated. “It was just darkness. A lot of trauma,” he recalled. “We didn’t even see it coming sometimes.”

The tragedy happened on August 8, 2007. Adrianna was taken to the hospital but didn’t survive. At first, it seemed like an accidental drowning, and authorities found no signs of foul play. The fire chief at the time suggested that she may have leaned too far over the side of the pool and hit her head.

But AJ’s version of events was different. He told his grandparents and the police that his mother had thrown Adrianna into the pool because she was upset with her. He claimed Amanda dunked her over and over in the water until she drowned. In a police interview, AJ said, “She did some stuff she wasn’t supposed to, so my mama got mad and threw her in.”

During the trial, AJ was asked to explain a drawing he had made that showed stick figures near the pool. Pointing to one figure, he quietly said, “That’s my momma… killing my sister.” When asked how, he described her putting her hand over Adrianna’s face.

Even now, AJ remembers how nervous he was during the trial. “I didn’t really understand it all,” he said. “I just told them what happened. But I was glad it was over.”

Amanda always insisted she was innocent. She said Adrianna had accidentally fallen into the pool while trying to clean bugs out. She even passed a lie detector test and was offered a 10-year plea deal, which she rejected. Instead, she went to trial and received life in prison without parole, plus an extra 30 years for child abuse.

Since then, AJ has kept his distance from her. “We’re not allowed to see each other, and honestly, I prefer it that way,” he explained. “I don’t want all the old emotions and trauma to come back up.”

Still, he quietly keeps an eye on the case. Amanda has hired a new lawyer and is trying to reopen it.

One small detail from the trial stands out — a red and white toy fire truck AJ carried with him to court. It was his favorite toy, and it turns out his childhood dream stuck with him. Today, AJ is a firefighter, married to a woman who knows all about his painful past. He says he’s happy now and wants to continue living without any contact with his birth mother.

Many people who’ve followed the story over the years have called AJ brave, while others have raised questions about whether a child’s testimony should carry that much weight. Some have doubts, especially since Amanda passed a polygraph and the original medical exam showed no clear signs of foul play. But AJ has never changed his story, and for him, telling the truth was the only choice he had.

What happened to AJ and Adrianna is something no child should ever go through, but AJ has managed to build a new life—one with safety, love, and purpose.