Convicted child killer Amber-Lee Hughes returned to the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday for cross-examination by the state during sentencing proceedings for the 2023 rape and murder of four-year-old Nada-Jane Challita, on what happened to be her birthday.
Amber-Lee Hughes stands by her testimony
State advocate Rolene Barnard opened proceedings by wishing Hughes a happy birthday before asking whether she wished to amend anything from the previous day’s testimony.
Hughes declined, confirming she stood by everything she had said.
The cross-examination turned to the early relationship between Hughes and Nada-Jane’s father, Elie Challita, focusing on the messages they exchanged in the early stages of their involvement.
Hughes had initially reached out to offer Elie help with caring for his young daughter, and the two had later communicated through notes left in Nada-Jane’s school diary.
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Hughes told the court she had a clear motivation for inserting herself into the child’s life.
“I wanted to be a mother figure in Nada’s life,” she said, adding that the little girl appeared to need that presence.
“It seemed like she needed that. She was still sucking her thumb, and she didn’t speak to other children at school, and she was behind a lot.”
The state is expected to argue for a severe sentence, with Nada-Jane’s father set to testify later in proceedings.
Hughes apologises but points to poor legal advice for lengthy trial
Addressing both the court and Nada-Jane’s family directly, Hughes expressed remorse and attributed the prolonged trial to poor advice from a previous legal representative.
“I would like to apologise to the court as well as the family of Nada. This trial has taken a lot longer than it should have, and it was because I was ill-advised by my previous representative,” she said.
“I accepted a long time ago that I would be sentenced and justice would be served because I did [it], I committed a murder.”
Hughes denies being flagged as danger to children
The state also probed Hughes about reported issues at Baby Steps, the school where Nada-Jane was enrolled.
It was put to Hughes that the school principal had flagged her as a potential danger to the children, an allegation she denied having any knowledge of.
She maintained that she believed her issues at the school stemmed from an inability to keep up, not from any such warning.
Hughes describes moment she decided to take Nada-Jane’s life
During her evidence-in-chief on Wednesday, Hughes had given the court a harrowing account of her state of mind that led to her killing the child.
She described reaching a breaking point after a series of calls and messages to Elie went unanswered or were met with hostility.
“And again, he became aggressive. Why am I phoning him 100 times, messaging him 100 times? And I should stop bombarding him. And again, he said, enough is enough,” she told the court.
“At that moment… the only possible way out of everything was to take Nada’s life and my own life. I felt like Nada wouldn’t have a future without me. She would be neglected and she wouldn’t progress without me.”
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Hughes acknowledged she does not blame Elie for what she did, but suggested his behaviour was a driving factor to the crimes she committed against his daughter.
“I’m not blaming Elie for what happened that day. I’m sorry to Nada about what… But deep down, I know that it drove me to do what I did that day,” she said.
She also revealed that Elie had sought the services of a sex worker during their relationship, something she said confused her, given that she believed their sexual relationship was healthy.
Hughes details the rape and killing of Nada-Jane
In what was among the most disturbing parts of her testimony heard in the proceedings, Hughes gave a detailed account of how she killed the four-year-old.
She described carrying out the act in a bathroom, and said she had spoken to the child beforehand.
“I ran to the bathroom and I got into the bath and before I got into the bath I said to her, ‘I’m sorry, I love you so much,’” she told the court.
“Nada didn’t fight. I sat on top of her, and I pushed her head under the water,” Hughes added.
Hughes, who has previously disclosed that she has bipolar disorder and suffers from depression, and had at times stopped taking her medication due to financial constraints, told the court she requires ongoing psychological support.
The court continues to weigh Hughes’s mental health history against the gravity of the crimes committed against the child in January 2023 at her Glenvista home.
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