A 45-year-old woman who lured a pregnant victim into an ambush in Arkansas and cut out her fetus in a botched scheme to "claim" the child as her own will face the death penalty after the state's highest court rejected an appeal in which her lawyers argued that her upcoming state murder trial was barred by double jeopardy.
The Arkansas Supreme Court last week denied the appeal of Amber Waterman, holding that her federal kidnapping convictions did not prohibit the state from pursuing murder charges against her for the 2022 slayings of 33-year-old Ashley Bush and her unborn daughter, whom she had named Valkyrie Grace Willis.
Waterman last year pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death and one count of causing the death of a child in utero. She was subsequently sentenced to two life sentences with no chance for parole, as there is no parole in the federal prison system. The state of Arkansas is scheduled to try Waterman on two counts of premeditated and deliberate capital murder.
Waterman Made Fake Facebook Profile, Posed as Woman Offering Baby Items to New Moms
Bush was 31 weeks pregnant when she went missing on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. She was reported missing to the Benton County, Arkansas Sheriff's office by her boyfriend, Joshua Willis, the father of the child she was carrying.
Willis told police Ashley had gone to meet with a woman named "Lucy" but never returned. Investigators allege that "Lucy" was Amber Waterman and she was seeking someone either with a baby or expecting one. "Lucy Barrows" account on Facebook was newly created and posted on social media on October 24, 2022.
"I have a bunch of baby items if any moms to be need them," she wrote in a post on a mommy group. Additionally, on Amber Waterman's FB account she posted on September 6, 2022, some sonogram photos of a baby claiming to be pregnant.
Waterman Killed Bush, Stole Her Baby and then Claimed She Suffered a Miscarriage After Baby was Unresponsive
Waterman pretended to help Bush obtain employment, suggesting she had a job opportunity for her and the two met at 11:45 a.m. Oct. 31, 2022, at a convenience store in Maysville. At about 5 p.m. Oct. 31, first responders reported to a Longview store in Pineville for an emergency call of a baby who was not breathing.
When emergency responders arrived at the scene, Waterman told them she gave birth to a stillborn on the way to the hospital. She allegedly refused medical treatment and the coroner confirmed that the baby was "cut out" from the mother's womb.
Bush's body was found three days later in Missouri. An autopsy indicated Bush died as a result of penetrating trauma of the torso and her death was classified as a homicide.
Jamie Waterman, Amber Waterman's husband, is charged federally with one count of being an accessory after the fact to kidnapping resulting in death. He isn't facing any state charges.
Jamie Waterman told authorities his wife showed him Bush's body, which was near their home, according to court documents. He said they burned the body and took the charred remains to another location, the document states.
