Adrianna Elaine Hutto (September 16, 1999 – August 8, 2007) was a 7-year-old American girl who lived in

Esto, Florida Esto is a town in Holmes County, Florida, United States. The population was 364 at the 2010 census. Geography Esto is located in northeastern Holmes County at (30.981052, –85.646857). It is bordered to the north by the state of Alabama and t ...

. On August 8, 2007, Adrianna's mother, Amanda E. Lewis, made a 911 call stating that she had found her daughter in the family's pool and she was not breathing. Emergency personnel rushed Adrianna to the nearby hospital Bay Medical, where she was pronounced dead about an hour after arrival. The death was initially treated as an accident until Adrianna's half-brother A.J., then 6 years old, told police that he had witnessed his mother "dunk" Adrianna in the pool as a form of corporal punishment.

Investigation

During the investigation, police discovered that Adrianna had been diagnosed with

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

and Lewis stated that while she initially had trouble bonding with her daughter, her affection for Adrianna had grown over time. Investigators also found that neither Adrianna nor A.J. appeared to have any toys in the house, to which Lewis stated that the toys had been taken away for a week as a form of punishment and that the toys were stored in a shed. After searching the shed, investigators noted that there were no toys in the shed or any evidence to suggest that they had been there. There was a little red wagon and two inflatable toys for the pool in the yard. Lewis submitted to and passed a

lie detector test Lie detection is an assessment of a verbal statement with the goal to reveal a possible intentional deceit. Lie detection may refer to a cognitive process of detecting deception by evaluating message content as well as non-verbal cues. It also ma ...

where she claimed that she had not killed her daughter. In September 2007, Lewis was arrested and charged with the

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

of Adrianna. She was offered a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

that would have required her to plead guilty to manslaughter and receive a ten-year sentence, which she declined in favor of going to trial.

Trial

Lewis went to trial in February 2008, where the statements by A.J. were brought up as evidence and the defense argued that A.J. was not a reliable witness, as his story had changed several times during further questioning. Other evidence brought to trial included an autopsy performed by Dr. Charles Siebert, statements from Lewis's co-workers, evidence of poor housekeeping, and the lack of toys, including Lewis's statement over the toys' whereabouts. The medical examiner, Dr. Charles Siebert was previously removed from duty for negligence during the Death of Martin Anderson and another 35 previous autopsies then reinstated under guidance. Dr Siebert was again removed from duty and left the state prior to the Lewis trial. The prosecution also pointed out multiple bruises on Adrianna's forehead that correlated with A.J.'s testimony. Four days after the case went to trial and after only two hours (including lunch) of deliberation, the jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. In March of the same year, Lewis was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Appeal

In 2010 Lewis filed an appeal, referring to the Merger doctrine, which she claimed "precludes the use of aggravated child abuse as the underlying felony in a felony murder charge if only a single act of abuse led to the child's death". This appeal was unsuccessful, and the conviction was affirmed.

In the media

Three television shows have highlighted this case: the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

show ''True Crime with Aphrodite Jones'', an episode of

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

, ''What A.J. Saw: Mother's Fate Hinged on 7-Year-Old's Testimony'', and also an episode of the UK documentary series '' Killer Women with Piers Morgan''.

References

External links

What Really Happened to Adrianna?
Photos - ABC News {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutto, Adrianna 2007 deaths 2007 in Florida 2007 murders in the United States 2008 in Florida August 2007 crimes in the United States Child abuse resulting in death Deaths by person in Florida Filicides in Florida Incidents of violence against girls Murder in Florida Child murder in the United States Violence against women in Florida