A woman in Missouri has been sentenced to serve two consecutive life sentences without parole in prison after she kidnapped and killed a woman in Arkansas and attempted to take her unborn child on October 31, 2022, according to the United States Attorney’s Office press release.
Amber Waterman, 44, kidnapped and killed Ashley Bush, 33, from Arkansas, and her unborn daughter who she named Valkyrie Willis, in what she said was an attempt to claim her child as her own.
The prosecuting attorney for Benton County, Arkansas, Joshua Robinson, said this past summer that he plans to prosecute Waterman “in state court and seek the death penalty,” according to Law&Crime.
Newsweek reached out to the Benton County Sheriff’s Department for comment via a form on their website outside of business hours.
Waterman’s husband, Jamie Waterman, 44, was also arrested in connection to the crime and pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the kidnapping resulting in death.
Under the guise of a work-from-home job opportunity for Bush, Waterman arranged to meet with Bush under the false name “Lucy” after connecting on Facebook and met her at a public library, before Bush entered Waterman’s truck and was driven to the Waterman home in Pineville, Missouri.
That evening, first responders went to a grocery store in Pineville, where they were informed about a baby who was not breathing, whom Waterman claimed she had given birth to.
The autopsy revealed that Bush’s death, classified as a homicide, had been the result of “penetrating trauma of the torso” and the baby had died in utero, in contradiction with Waterman’s claims.
Law enforcement officials claimed that Waterman shot Bush, used a knife to try to take her child from her abdomen, and then attempted to burn her body.
Jamie Waterman also allegedly assisted his wife in hiding and disposing of Bush’s body, according to court documents, and tried to prevent the punishment of his wife.
He initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea in an appearance in court on Tuesday, and he faces up to 15 years in federal prison without parole.
Fetal abduction is rare, and the cases of fetal abduction make up 6 percent of those reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), according to their report analyzing infant abduction trends from 1964 through August 2022.
Moreover, the private nonprofit reported that there have been 21 cases of fetal abduction reported to the NCMEC since 1987, and in those cases, 19 mothers died and nine fetuses died as a result of the abductions.
Currently, authorities have confirmed they have new updates on the kidnapping of Morgan Nick in Arkansas, a case which has been linked with the disappearance of Melissa Witt in 1994. And an Arkansas father has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the man his wife has accused of raping his daughter. Meanwhile, Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against YouTube and parent company Alphabet, alleging the platform has contributed to a mental health crisis facing the state’s youth.
A pregnant woman with her hands on her belly. A woman in Missouri has been sentenced to life in prison after kidnapping and murdering a pregnant woman and her unborn child in 2022.
Katie Collins/Associated Press
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