WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAIL: Amber Lee Hughes, 29, suspected that her boyfriend was cheating on her and sent him a chilling message before she harrowingly raped and drowned his four-year-old daughter
A nursery teacher sent a chilling message to her boyfriend before she raped and drowned his four-year-old daughter in a sickening attack.
This week, Amber Lee Hughes, 29, was found guilty of rape and the murder of Nada-Jane Challita, the daughter of her former partner, Elie Challita. She was convicted by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, South Africa, after the court heard how she carried out the horrendous murder while looking after Nada-Jane while her dad was out of town for a job interview.
Hughes was in a relationship with the child’s dad, Elie, but an explosive argument is said to have broken out between the pair after she suspected that he was being unfaithful. In a horrific act of revenge on January 23, 2023, Hughes sent a chilling message to Elie while looking after his daughter, which read, “You broke my heart; I’m going to burn yours. How could you do that to me?”
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A court hearing earlier this year heard how Hughes forced Nada-Jane’s head underwater in the bathtub by sitting on her as she struggled to escape. Tragically, Nade-Jane was found lifeless in the bath at her home in Glenvista, and a post-mortem later revealed that she had been raped twice before being drowned.
The assault took place around two years after the couple began their relationship, by which point Hughes had moved into the family home in Johannesburg. However, the relationship during this period was “marked by frequent altercations”, the court was previously told.
Hughes had initially denied killing the child, but later confessed to murder. “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.
She always denied rape, but court evidence revealed that the child had been sexually assaulted at least once within 12 hours of her death, during which time Hughes had been the only adult with her. Evidence also suggested that Hughes had assaulted the four-year-old with foreign objects.
The judge said of the murder charge that 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.”
In reference to the message Hughes had allegedly sent her partner, just moments before murdering his child, the judge said: “The inference is irresistible that [Hughes] made the threat of burning Mr Challita’s heart and made good on that threat.”
At a previous court hearing, Hughes said: “I admit that I suffered from borderline personality disorder at the time of the incident, but was aware of what I was doing on that day.
“The event was triggered by the argument 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.”
The defendant also revealed to the court how she attempted to take her own life.