Amber-Lee Hughes has thrown the dice again, returning to the stand on Friday for her sentencing hearing with shocking details about her turbulent relationship with Ellie Challita.
Ellie Challita is the father of Nada-Jane Challita, a four-year-old who was brutally murdered by Hughes in 2023.
Hughes alleged that Ellie was physically abusive towards her throughout their relationship, revelations that now cast a shadow over the proceedings as Ellie prepares to take the stand in the coming court appearances.
Hughes and Ellie met when she was a teacher at Nada-Jane’s school. Hughes painted a picture of a relationship that began with the intimacy of a parent-teacher dynamic before evolving into something far more complex.
The two had initially communicated frequently about Nada’s welfare, with Ellie expressing deep gratitude for Hughes’ care.
“I can feel and see how you treat Nada,” Ellie wrote in one message revealed to the court, adding, “Nada and I are so lucky that you are her teacher and you are looking after her.”
Hughes, responding to the court’s questions about the nature of those early messages, acknowledged that the flirtation in their exchanges had originated with Ellie.
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Nada-Jane showed signs of neglect
Before their relationship took a romantic turn, Hughes testified that she had observed troubling signs of neglect in Nada’s day-to-day condition.
She described the child’s hair as severely matted, not simply curly or natural, but knotted to the point where neither a comb nor her fingers could pass through.
She told the court that on at least one occasion, she had no choice but to cut the knots out entirely.
Hughes also raised concerns about Nada’s physical health, noting that she had observed severe rashes near the child’s private parts and buttocks, and had recommended a barrier cream to Ellie.
When messages were presented in court showing her expressions of care for Nada, Hughes pointed to specific exchanges to demonstrate that her concern for the child was consistent and documented.
“It’s what I do. I love children, but Nada is just so sweet. And because of that, I will always go the extra mile for her. I promise you,” she said in one message that was read into the record.
Relationship marked by control and isolation
As their relationship deepened, Hughes testified that Ellie became increasingly controlling.
She described a situation in which he had no formal banking access in South Africa due to his legal status, and that they shared her bank accounts, a financial arrangement that left her vulnerable.
When arguments arose, Ellie would strip her of gifts and money he considered his own, then accuse her of theft if she took anything back.
“We shared everything,” she told the court, explaining that a large sum of cash kept in a cupboard at home was treated as communal, and that she took from it at a time when she was not earning a salary and was estranged from her father and brother as a result of the relationship.
Hughes described feeling utterly alone.
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Hughes alleges a violent assault
One of the most striking moments of her testimony came when Hughes was asked to explain a message she had sent to Ellie that read, in part: “Please, Ellie, take care of me when I need you the most. Come and fetch me today or in the morning tomorrow. It hurts to even cry.”
Hughes told the court that the phrase “it hurts to even cry” was not figurative.
“During that day, Ellie, he beat me quite badly and in my face, especially and on the back of my head. So that’s when I say that it hurts to even cry.”
She went on to describe a relationship that, at its worst, left her feeling entirely without options.
“I was in an abusive relationship,” she said, explaining that she had been suffering severely from depression at the time and was not receiving any psychological or psychiatric treatment.
Despite what had happened to her on that particular day, which she described as “the worst experience we had together”, she admitted that a part of her still wanted to return to him.
“He made me feel like all I could ever have was him,” she told the court.
Contact with child welfare and the police
Hughes testified that her concerns about Nada’s welfare eventually led her to contact social workers at the Edenvale Child Welfare office, as well as the police.
This action prompted a message from Ellie in which he wrote that she had “played with my daughter’s future”.
Hughes explained the significance of that phrase to the court, saying that Ellie’s fear related to the possibility of his arrest the day the police arrived at the house.
She alleged that he subsequently paid for the silence of the police.
Hughes describes Nada’s final moments
Under direct questioning from the presiding officer, Hughes was asked to describe in detail what happened to Nada in the bathtub.
She told the court that after telling the child she was sorry, she sat on her back and pushed her head down into the water.
“It was only about two or three minutes before I felt her jerk,” she said. “And once I felt her jerk, it’s when I got off of her.”
The presiding officer noted that the child must have struggled and fought for her life.
Hughes conceded there had been a small struggle.
Asked why she believed it was right to take the child’s life when Nada had done nothing wrong to her, Hughes acknowledged that the person who had allegedly wronged her was Ellie, not Nada.
“It wasn’t justifiable, my Lord,” she said, “But at that time… I wasn’t in my right state of mind.”
The matter has been postponed to 12 March, when Ellie Challita is expected to take the stand.
The court requested that sufficient time be allocated for his evidence to begin and conclude in the same sitting.
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