A nursery teacher who sexually abused and drowned her lover’s four-year-old daughter in a jealous rage has begged the court for leniency, claiming she had a troubled childhood.
Amber-Lee Hughes, 26, was convicted in August of rape and the premeditated murder of her lover’s daughter Nada-Jane Challita in January 2023.
Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, South Africa, heard that Hughes, who was working as a teacher-assistant at a preschool attended by the child, began a romantic relationship with the child’s father.
The father, Elie Challita, had left the child alone in Hughes’s care while he went to a job interview.
After he left home, Hughes seemed angry that he did not give her a goodbye kiss and suspected him of cheating.
She sent him a chilling text message saying: ‘You broke my heart; I’m going to burn yours. How could you do that to me?’
In earlier admissions before the court, Hughes said she ran a bath for the child, got into the tub with her, and sat on her until she drowned.
According to the evidence handed over to the court, the nursery school teacher also raped the girl by inserting foreign objects into the child, Eyewitness News reported.
Hughes is now due to be sentenced after being found guilty of the sick crimes. She had initially denied all charges.
Giving evidence in hopes of a lenient sentence, Hughes detailed her mental health history, telling the court she began receiving psychological treatment at nine after struggling to adjust to a new school following her family’s move to a different city.
Hughes said she was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 2, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder, and was prescribed antidepressants and mood stabilisers from the age of 13.
She told the court that financial constraints later affected her ability to consistently access psychiatric care and medication, and that she had stopped taking her prescribed medication about two months before the incident because she could not afford it.
Hughes also described suffering a breakdown while in detention in 2024 after being charged with two counts of rape for the attack on the child.
She told the court she used to self-harm, and was placed in the hospital unit at the correctional facility.
Hughes told the court that while the matter was still before the Regional Court, she had indicated she wished to plead guilty to murder.
She said: ‘One of the most common questions I was asked by several doctors was how I would like to plead. And I stated to them that I would like to plead guilty to murder.’
She told the court she informed her previous legal representative of her intention before the case proceeded in the High Court, but was advised she would have to plead to all three charges — rape, sexual assault and murder — and could not plead guilty to murder alone.
She said she was also advised she could receive a suspended sentence.
When asked whether she knew she had killed the child at the time she testified in her defence, Hughes replied: ‘I did, yes.’
Earlier this week, sentencing was postponed after the defence requested more time to consult with Hughes regarding electronic evidence.
Outside court, Nada-Jane’s father said the family had endured a long wait for justice and that he did not believe any apology would change what had happened.
The sentencing proceedings continue.
