Background
The death was initially treated as an accident until Adrianna"s half-brother A.J., then 5 years old, told police that he had witnessed his mother "dunk" Adrianna in the pool as a form of corporal punishment.
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Adrianna Hutto
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Emergency personnel rushed Adrianna to the nearby hospital Bay Medical, where she was pronounced dead about an hour after arrival. Investigators also found that neither Adrianna or A.J. appeared to have any toys in the house, to which Lewis stated that the toys had been taken away for a week as a form of punishment and that the toys were stored in a shed. After searching the shed, investigators noted that there were no toys in the shed or any evidence to suggest that they had been there.
In September 2007 Lewis was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Adrianna.
She was offered a plea bargain that would have required her to plead guilty to manslaughter and receive a ten year sentence, which she declined in favor of going to trial. Lewis went to trial in February 2008, where the statements by A. J. and Doctor Fox were brought up as evidence and the defense argued that A. J. was not a reliable witness, as his story had changed several times during further questioning.
Other evidence brought to trial included an autopsy performed by Doctor Charles Seibert. Other evidence brought up in trial included statements from Lewis"s co-workers, evidence of poor housekeeping, and the lack of toys, including Lewis"s statement over the toys" whereabouts.
The prosecution also pointed out bruising on Adrianna"s forehead that correlated with A. J."s testimony.
Four days after the case went to trial the jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder. In March of the same year Lewis was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2010 Lewis filed an appeal, using the Merger doctrine as an issue, stating that it "precludes the use of aggravated child abuse as the underlying felony in a felony murder charge if only a single act of abuse led to the child"s death".
This appeal was unsuccessful and the conviction was affirmed.
Two television shows have highlighted this case, the Discovery show True Crime with Aprodite Jones and an episode of 20/20, What A.J. Saw: Mother"s Fate Hinged on 7-Year-Old"s Testimony.
