She Pretended to Help a Pregnant Woman. What She Did Next Was Unspeakable
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Amber Waterman is already serving two consecutive life sentences for killing Ashley Bush. Now Arkansas state prosecutors are seeking the death penalty
By Sean Neumann
Amber Waterman, Ashley Bush, Jamie Waterman
Amber Waterman, Ashley Bush.
Credit : McDonald County Sheriff's Department; Facebook
State prosecutors will be allowed to continue a capital murder trial against Amber Waterman, the Missouri woman currently serving two consecutive life sentences for kidnapping and murdering a pregnant woman in 2022, whom she lured with a fake job opportunity.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled this week that Benton County prosecutors are able to continue their trial against Waterman, 45, after her defense attorneys argued that she’s already been convicted on federal charges and said being tried again at the state level would equate to double jeopardy, according to KHBS, KARK, and CBS 5 News.
"We're disappointed that the Supreme Court did not agree with our arguments," Jeff Rosenzweig, one of Waterman’s attorneys, told KHBS.
Waterman received two consecutive life sentences last year after being found guilty of kidnapping and shooting 33-year-old Ashley Bush to death. Bush, who was pregnant, had been lured to meet Waterman at her car in the parking lot of a convenience store after Waterman reached out on Facebook promising to give her clothes that would fit an expecting mother, as well as offering a job.
McDonald County Sheriff's Department
PEOPLE previously reported that after Waterman killed Bush, she removed her child from her body and called 911 and acted like the baby was her own, telling responding officers that the baby died while she gave birth in her truck on her way to a local hospital.
Federal complaints previously obtained by PEOPLE stated that Waterman’s husband, Jamie Waterman, told detectives his wife confessed to killing Bush, and that the couple later burned her body and dumped it in a remote area. The affidavits claimed Jamie led police to the place where they had dumped Bush's charred remains.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri said in a press release last July that Waterman confessed to killing both Bush and her baby.
"This horrific crime resulted in the tragic deaths of two innocent victims," U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said at the time. "Today’s guilty plea holds this defendant accountable for her actions and ensures that justice will be served."
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Waterman is currently serving consecutive life sentences without parole, PEOPLE reported last October.
Benton County prosecutors said this week that they plan to seek the death penalty in part because Bush’s family has requested it. Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Joshua Robinson said “the worst crimes need to carry the worst punishment, whatever that happens to be," according to KHBS.
PEOPLE has reached out to Waterman’s defense attorneys for comment.
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