Amber Lee Hughes, 25, admitted forcing her boyfriend’s four-year-old daughter, Nada-Jane Chalita, into a bathtub until she drowned when an autopsy revealed signs of sexual assault.
An evil kindergarten teacher who raped and murdered her boyfriend’s four-year-old daughter committed a final sickening act after drowning her in a bathtub.
Amber Lee Hughes, 25, admitted killing little Nada-Jane Chalita in a harrowing attack sparked by her paranoid suspicions that her partner was cheating on her.
Nada-Jane’s father Elie had left his daughter in Hughes’ care while he went to a job interview in Johannesburg on January 23, 2023. But when she didn’t kiss him goodbye, Hughes became enraged with jealousy and watched her force the girl into the bathtub and sit on her until she drowned.
After denying murder at the start of his trial, Hughes later changed his plea to guilty and admitted he left the four-year-old’s body in the bathtub with the tap running after she fell silent.
He told the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg: “I admit that I drowned the deceased, Nada Jane Therese Challita, on 23 January 2023 by sitting on her, which resulted in her being submerged in water.
“I acknowledge that after the deceased did not respond, I left her in the bathtub while I left the cold water tap running.”
It was heard during the trial that in a message sent to Elie moments before the murder, Hughes said: “You broke my heart; I’m going to burn yours. How could you do that to me?” A post-mortem examination revealed that Nada-Jane had been sexually assaulted twice before her death.
During a hearing Tuesday, Hughes claimed her traumatic childhood and mental health issues had led her to crime, and said she had faced bullying and suicide attempts on multiple occasions.
Giving evidence to the court, social worker Carina Wolmarans said she believed Hughes felt deep remorse for the murder and told the court: “He said he wished he could take it back.”
But Judge Richard Mkabela said Hughes’ actions were “clearly premeditated and that his messages leading up to the murder demonstrated his intent, adding: “The inference is irresistible that [Hughes] “He threatened to burn Mr. Challita’s heart and he carried out that threat.”
Hughes began a relationship with Elie in 2021 and moved in to live with him and Nada-Jane. The court was told the relationship was volatile and Hughes repeatedly threatened to harm Nada-Jane.
In August she was found guilty of premeditated murder and vaginal rape, crimes that, under South African law, carry minimum sentences of life imprisonment.
When asked about the process, Elie said he felt nothing would make up for what happened to his daughter, saying, “Obviously, I am the father of the girl. The justice I seek does not exist in this world or in this life.”
The victim’s family became even more frustrated Wednesday after judges postponed sentencing until February 16, 2026.
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