 (1).png){kind=spacer}
3 weeks ago
4
Amber Lee Hughes, accused of the 2023 rape and murder of 4-year-old Nada-Jane Challita, sits in the dock in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday.
- Amber Lee Hughes is charged with the 2023 rape and murder of four-year-old daughter, Nada-Jane Challita.
- Her case was back in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday.
- After pleading not guilty throughout her trial, she has now admitted to killing the child.
In a shock twist, Amber Lee Hughes has now admitted to killing her ex’s four-year-old daughter, Nada-Jane Challita.
Little Nada-Jane was found raped and drowned in the bathtub of her Glenvista home in January 2023, following an argument between Hughes and the child’s father, Elie Challita.
Hughes had pleaded not guilty at trial and judgment had been expected last week, but it was delayed after she made an eleventh-hour change to her legal team, prompting a postponement for her to consult with her new lawyers.
The case was back in court on Thursday, when Hughes’ new counsel, advocate Marius Bouwer, revealed she now wanted to make certain admissions, including that she had indeed killed Nada-Jane. She, however, maintains she did not rape the child.
Hughes wept softly as her admissions were read into the record.
“I admit that I drowned the deceased, Nada Jane Therese Challita, [on] 23 January 2023 by sitting on her, which had the result that she was submerged in the water,” they read.
“I admit that after the deceased did not respond that I left her in the bathtub whilst the cold water tap was left running.”
Hughes further admitted that “the whole event was triggered by the fight I had with the deceased’s father concerning his infidelity and the final trigger was when he told me that I should stop bombarding him”.
Hughes said she tried to take her own life three times after killing Nada-Jane.
She said she first tried “hitting” a broken glass bottle into her wrist and then cut her wrists with a knife which she said further resulted in “a deep laceration”.
“I then went outside and attempted to hang myself,” she said, adding that she was unable to find “a suitable rope”.
“I went into the house and hysterically ran around the house and then went to the lounge, where I sat next to the couch,” said Hughes.
It was here that Marwin Fallah, a friend Challita had sent to the house to check on his daughter, found Hughes.
She claimed she suffered from borderline personality disorder at the time, “but was aware of what I was doing on that day”.
Nada-Jane’s parents, Elie Challita and Amy Johnson pictured at the Johannesburg High Court, react to the news of the further postponement of the case.
She also claimed her initial plan was to plead guilty to the murder charge.
“However due to incidents and occurrences beyond my control I decided not to,” she added.
When it came to the two charges of raping Nada-Jane she was facing, however, Hughes remained adamant that she was not guilty.
“I persist with the denial that I have raped the deceased,” she said.
The matter has now been postponed until 7 August for arguments on the rape charges.
