A NURSERY school teacher has been found guilty of raping and murdering her boyfriend’s four-year-old daughter after a bitter row over alleged infidelity.
Amber Lee Hughes, 29, was convicted Thursday by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg of the horrific killing of little Nada-Jane Challita.
News24.comNursery teacher Amber Lee Hughes guilty of raping and murdering her boyfriend’s daughter[/caption]
News24.comHughes admitted killing the child in the bath, triggered by a row over infidelity[/caption]
NewsflashNada-Jane Challita was found raped and drowned in the bath at her home[/caption]
The girl who was discovered raped and drowned in the bath at her Glenvista home in January 2023.
Hughes – who had been dating the child’s dad, Elie Challita – had been left to look after the youngster while he was out of town for a job interview.
Instead, the court heard, she used the moment to exact revenge after an explosive argument.
Hughes was reportedly upset that he left without a goodbye kiss and suspected him of being unfaithful.
She then sent a chilling message which read: “You broke my heart; I’m going to burn yours. How could you do that to me?”
Nada-Jane’s lifeless body was found in the bathtub, with a post-mortem revealing she had been raped twice before being drowned.
Hughes has always denied the rape, but Judge Richard Mkhabela said the evidence showed she had sexually assaulted the child at least once within 12 hours of her death, when she was the only adult with her.
Court evidence suggested the nursery school teacher had also assaulted the child using foreign objects, Eyewitness News reported.
The judge said Hughes’ own admission meant it was not necessary to revisit arguments over whether the drowning was accidental.
On the murder charge, the judge also found Hughes’ actions were “clearly premeditated.”
He said: “The accused made the threat. She has the propensity to make violent threats.
“The objective evidence shows that after stopping communication with Mr Challita at 16:35, Mr Challita continued sending the accused messages but she did not respond but had read the messages.”
He added the chilling threats she allegedly sent to Challita minutes before killing the child showed her intent.
One read: “You broke my heart; I’m going to burn yours.”
The judge ruled: “The inference is irresistible that [Hughes] made the threat of burning Mr Challita’s heart and made good on that threat.”
During the trial, Hughes made a shocking U-turn after initially pleading not guilty.
She later admitted killing Nada-Jane by sitting on her while she was in the bath.
“I admit that after the deceased did not respond that I left her in the bathtub whilst the cold water tap was left running,” she told the court.
After the killing, Hughes allegedly told the court she tried to end her life three times.
She said she was struggling with borderline personality disorder but conceded she knew exactly what she was doing.
Hughes had begun dating Challita in 2021 and later moved in with him and his daughter.
Prosecutors the couple’s relationship was turbulent, marked by frequent arguments in which she repeatedly threatened to hurt the child.
Hughes further confessed the crime was triggered by a fight with Challita.
She said: “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.”
But even after her admission, Hughes continued to deny sexually assaulting the child.
NewsflashNada-Jane’s dad Elie Challita held back tears as he said after months he is finally relieved to know the truth[/caption]
Nada-Jane had known her killer for almost her whole lifeNewsflash
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, devastated father Elie Challita said he felt relieved the trial had finally concluded following a two-month delay.
The case had been pushed back when Hughes abruptly changed her plea from not guilty in July, just days before the hearings were due to wrap up.
“Thank God today we had progress,” he told the Citizen.
While satisfied with the guilty verdict, Challita admitted he was disappointed Hughes had only been convicted on one of the two rape counts, describing it as a kind of “two-thirds closure.”
“That doesn’t bring my child back. Nothing will bring her back. So it’s a feeling mixed of anger and relief. It’s just mixed emotions,” he said.
Asked if he expected Hughes to face life behind bars, Challita replied that no sentence could ever make up for the loss.
“Obviously, I’m the parent of the child. The justice that I seek doesn’t exist in this world or in this lifetime.
“We are all humans here. The judge is a human. No one can bring back what is lost.
“So my real justice won’t be in this lifetime or on this earth, but it starts here, and it officially started today by the judge finding her guilty.”
Reflecting on his emotions, he added: “I am feeling slightly better. I hope this feeling grows on me, but it also can never erase what happened to my child.
“The real and initial victim here is my child, [who] was a human with a name and a character [of] her own, and she was tortured to death, and she was raped.
“So, as much as I’m the victim, I’m not the 100 per cent victim here.”*
Hughes’ lawyer requested that sentencing be postponed to allow the defence more time to prepare.
The court agreed, and proceedings were rescheduled for October 27.
At an earlier hearing, Challita testified that Hughes had become jealous of his young daughter.
He told the court: “[She] was jealous about me giving [Nada-Jane] more attention and spending more money on her.”
The grieving dad added: “I felt my heart fall from my chest; I felt something was very wrong.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 800 422 4453 or live chat at https://www.childhelphotline.org/.
If a child or other person is in immediate danger, contact 911 immediately.
NewsflashHughes sat in court during an earlier hearing of her trial[/caption]
NewsflashEvil Hughes (pictured earlier in the trial) is set to be sentenced in October[/caption]