Johannesburg High Court Judge Richard Mkhabela found Amber Lee Hughes guilty of rape and premeditated murder of Nada-Jane Chalita (4) on 28 August 2025.
She was found guilty on Count 2 (rape) and Count 3 (premeditated murder). However, she was not found guilty on Count 1 (sexual penetration by placing an unknown object in the anus of the deceased).
The case was then postponed to October 27 and 28, when evidence and arguments for mitigation and aggravation will be tabled.
Mkhabela read the 49-minute judgment, explaining that all three counts carry a prescribed life sentence. He related all the evidence by the State from the time Eli Chalita and Hughes met in October 2021.
The father of the deceased said the following when the judge read the judgment: “It doesn’t bring back the life of my child. She is found guilty, but that will never bring my child back – nothing will. It’s a mixed feeling of anger and relief.”
