A NURSERY school teacher who drowned her partner’s four-year-old daughter in a jealous rage has blamed her actions on a “difficult upbringing.”
Amber Lee Hughes was found guilty by the Johannesburg High Court of the rape and murder of her ex-partner’s daughter, Nada-Jane Chalita.
The sentencing hearing took place on 27 October, following Hughes’ earlier admission that she had drowned the child on 23 January 2023.
She had originally pleaded not guilty.
Nada-Jane’s father, Elie Challita, had left his daughter in Hughes’s care while he attended a job interview.
After he left, Hughes grew furious that he had not kissed her goodbye and became convinced he was being unfaithful.
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In a message sent shortly before the killing, she wrote: “You broke my heart; I’m going to burn yours. How could you do that to me?”
Moments later, she placed the child in the bathtub and sat on her as she struggled, forcing her head underwater.
Nada-Jane’s body was later found lifeless.
A post-mortem revealed she had been raped twice before she drowned.
Prosecutors accused Hughes of inserting an object into the girl’s genitals before the killing, though she denied the allegation.
In court, 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.
“I admit that after the deceased became unresponsive, I left her in the bathtub with the cold water tap still running.”
Following the killing, Hughes told the court she had attempted to end her own life three times.
During sentencing, she argued that her traumatic childhood and mental health struggles had shaped her behaviour.
Social worker Carina Wolmarans testified that Hughes’s early life was marked by emotional instability, bullying, and multiple suicide attempts.
She explained that Hughes suffered from low self-esteem after being mocked for her weight and began self-harming as a teenager.
Wolmarans said Hughes expressed deep regret, telling the court: “She said she wishes she could take it back.”
The social worker added that Hughes suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder.
However, judge Richard Mkhabela cautioned her to leave medical diagnoses to psychiatrists and psychologists.
Judge Mkhabela also ruled that Hughes’s actions were “clearly premeditated.”
He said the chilling threats she sent to Challita moments before the killing demonstrated her intent: “The inference is irresistible that [Hughes] made threat of burning Mr Challita’s heart and made good on that threat.”
Hughes began dating Challita in 2021 and later moved in with him and his daughter.
The court heard their relationship was turbulent, marked by frequent arguments during which she repeatedly threatened to harm the child.
Asked if he expected Hughes to face life behind bars, Challita said no sentence could ever make up for his loss.
“Obviously, I’m the parent of the child. The justice that I seek doesn’t exist in this world or in this lifetime.
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“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.”