Amber Waterman: State trial to finally go ahead for woman charged with kidnapping, murdering mother-to-be
Prosecutors claim Amber wanted to steal Ashley Bush's unborn baby to take for her own
A judge has cleared the way for a woman to face state charges regarding the kidnapping and murder of a mother-to-be after she pleaded guilty to federal charges for the crime.
Amber Waterman, 44, faces consecutive life sentences after being convicted on the federal level. KARK now reports that the Arkansas Supreme Court gave a majority opinion to deny dismissing the charges against Amber based on potential double jeopardy.
Amber was arrested on Nov. 4, 2022 after she allegedly lured 33-year old Ashley Bush to a meeting on the promise of a new job opportunity. Waterman then took Bush from Maysville, Arkansas, to Pineville Missouri, where the murders occurred. Bush was 33 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
Initially, Amber faced both state and federal charges since her crimes crossed state lines. On July 30, 2024, Amber entered a guilty plea for the federal charges: one count of kidnapping resulting in death and one count of thereby causing the death of a child in utero, the U.S. Attorneys office previously said.
Amber’s attorney previously filed a motion to dismiss the state charges, stating that she had already pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death and causing the death of a child in utero in federal court. Her attorney claimed that making her face state charges posed the hazard of double jeopardy.
Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green ruled that only the kidnapping charges posed the risk of double jeopardy and dismissed those, according to KARK, but the murder charges will stand.
Benton County prosecuting attorney Bryan Sexton can now move forward with the state’s trial. The prosecutor’s office previously told KNWA they would seek the death penalty against Amber.
The Crime
The Western Missouri District Attorney’s Office released a statement announcing the arrest of Amber and Jamie Waterman on Nov. 4, 2022.
The statement explains that between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, 2022, 42-year-old Amber Waterman kidnapped Ashley Bush, who was 31 weeks pregnant. Law and Crime reports that Bush was 33-years-old.
The criminal complaint details how on Oct. 31, at about 6:30 p.m., Bush was reported missing by her fiance, Joshua Willis. He told police that on Oct. 28, he and Bush met a woman who went by the name “Lucy” at the public library in Gravette, Arkansas, the complaint says. Bush and “Lucy” discussed employment opportunities at a company called Conduent, the complaint says. Law and Crime reports that Bush and “Lucy” had met online while Bush was seeking work-from-home opportunities.
Willis told police he recalled Lucy driving an older, tan pickup truck, according to the complaint.
Later that evening, “Lucy” messaged Bush with a request to meet her supervisor with Conduent in Bentonville, Arkansas on Monday, Oct. 31, at 9:00 a.m. The DOJ adds that “Lucy” later messaged Bush again that night at about 11:00 p.m. to tell Bush they would meet at the Handi-Stop convenience store in Maysville, Arkansas on Oct. 31 to meet the supervisor.
Willis drove his fiancée to the store where they met “Lucy”, and he noted that “Lucy” was driving the same tan pickup truck he’d seen at the library, the complaint says.
At about 3:00 p.m., Willis received a message from Bush informing him she was in Gravette, Arkansas, on her way to the store where he was to pick her up.
He told police that while he was waiting for his fiancée, he saw the same tan pickup truck drive past the store, turn on Highway 43 and head north, noting that “Lucy” was driving with Bush in the passenger seat, the complaint says. Willis added that he tried calling Bush but her phone went straight to voicemail.
When Willis met Benton County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) detectives on Nov. 1, he told them he found Bush’s phone on the side of Highway 43, then rode with detectives to the location, the complaint says. Detectives retrieved the phone, gaining access with the passcode Willis gave them, the complaint says.
On the phone, detectives found “Lucy’s” Facebook account, seemingly created on Oct. 25, 2022 under the name “Lucy Barrows”, which had a public post offering to get rid of “a bunch of baby items if any moms need them.”
Upon returning Willis to the store, a witness approached the detective, and said on Oct. 31, he and another man were traveling south on Highway 43 when they saw a man driving north throw a red and black cell phone from the vehicle window. The detective confirmed with both witnesses that the truck they saw was a blue or light gray Chevrolet pickup truck.
The phone soon gave up the truth of what happened that day, as the complaint explains how the BCSO received records from Facebook, which revealed that the “Lucy Barrows” account was, indeed, created on Oct. 25, 2022, at 10:45 p.m. The detective traced the IP address to a man named Jamie Waterman, residing in Pineville, Missouri, the complaint says.
While reviewing records and the recovered phone, another detective compiled a timeline of events based on Bush’s Google Maps account. The phone recorded travel from Gravette to Maysville at 11:07 a.m. on Oct. 31, then left the Maysville area at about 11:41 a.m., returning to Maysville at about 6:51 p.m.
Bush’s Gmail account also revealed that her phone left Maysville, Arkansas and traveled to an area near Pineville, Missouri, at 1:09 p.m. Between 1:09 p.m. and 1:28 p.m., Bush’s phone was near Laughlin Ridge Road in Pineville approximately .15 miles from the Waterman residence, the complaint adds.
On Nov. 1, 2022, BCSO detectives paired with detectives from the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in Missouri to travel to the Waterman residence.
The couple granted consent for the detectives to search the residence and outbuildings, during which time one detective noted a tan Chevrolet pickup truck which matched the description Willis said “Lucy” had been driving, the complaint says. The detective spotted what he thought to be blood stains on the center console, steering wheel, and headliner in the truck’s interior.
Amber Waterman claimed that on Oct. 31, she had been at the residence all day with her son and her husband’s cousin’s daughter, then went into labor later that afternoon. Amber had the woman call 911, then they drove to meet the ambulance at a store in Mcdonald County.
Amber claimed to have given birth to a stillborn child that evening, and when the detective asked if he could see her phone, she claimed she lost it.
As for the tan pickup truck, Amber claimed she was the only person with keys to the vehicle. She also told a detective she didn’t know Bush, but she knew “Lucy” from when they previously worked at Walmart, the complaint continues, though Amber said they weren’t close and she had last seen “Lucy” a few weeks before in a store.
Upon talking to Jamie Waterman, Amber’s story allegedly began to unravel, as he told a detective that he went to work on Oct. 31 at 6:00 a.m. When he came home for lunch at noon, he said the tan truck was not there, and no one was home. He drove the blue GMC pickup truck that day and returned to work, though at 4:30 p.m., Amber called him and said she was having a miscarriage, the complaint says.
Jamie said he returned home to take Amber and the two children to the store to meet an ambulance. He denied having any knowledge of Bush’s case.
The tan pickup truck was seized due to the potential presence of blood during this search. On Nov. 3, 2022, MCSO and BCSO detectives returned with the FBI and a search warrant for the residence.
Jamie was interviewed again at his workplace, where he said that he saw the blood inside the truck on the evening of Oct. 31. He said he assumed it had been from Amber’s miscarriage and pregnancy complications, though he added that Amber never revealed where the blood came from, the complaint says.
After she cleaned the blood from the truck, she burned the rags she’d used in a burn barrel in front of the home, to which Jamie added trash from the residence.
Jamie also admitted that on Nov. 2 when detectives initially came to the home, he knew of Bush’s disappearance, yet claimed it was because of social media coverage, the complaint says. Jamie explained that it wasn’t until detectives left at 5:00 a.m. on Nov. 2 that Amber allegedly admitted to him she killed Bush, quickly changing the story to pin the murder on “Lucy.”
Amber led Jamie to Bush’s body at about 6:30 a.m., he said, describing the body as fully clothed, covered in a blue tarp, and lying face-down beside a boat adjacent to the house, the complaint says. Amber allegedly dragged the body on the tarp to a fire pit behind the residence and asked Jamie to get some gasoline.
Jamie described how he retrieved a gallon of chainsaw bar oil. Amber allegedly lit the tarp, poured about a third of the oil over the body, and collected wood to add to the fire.
Jamie added that he dragged a small sofa next to the fire and thought that Amber added that to the flames, too, the complaint says. The fire burned for about an hour, he said, after which Amber doused it with water from the garden hose and allegedly told Jamie to pull the body from the pile.
He stated the body was still very hot, so he got another tarp and wrapped the body into it, then moved it into the bed of his blue pickup truck, the complaint says. The couple allegedly drove the body a short distance away from the residence, due to his truck’s transmission problems, then placed the body on the ground and removed the tarp, which Amber later allegedly burned.
Jamie led agents and detectives to where he and Amber had allegedly left Bush’s body, which was still there. The complaint notes that a charred human hand and bone fragments were also found in the burn pile.
“People do evil things. And that someone would prey upon a pregnant woman at her most vulnerable state is unimaginable but unfortunately that’s the world we live in,” Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said during a Nov. 3 press release.
Jamie originally pleaded not guilty in Dec. 2022, according to a previous report from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was charged with accessory after the fact to kidnapping resulting in death.
On Dec. 2, 2022, Amber also pleaded not guilty. KNWA reported that the couple were originally going to stand trial together.
The state trial has faced delays from the start, as the federal charges took priority. In July 2024, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette (NADG) reported that Amber planned to change her not guilty plea to guilty. The hearing for that was scheduled for July 30, 2024.
Sure enough, Amber entered a guilty plea to the federal charges at that hearing. Almost immediately, her defense attorneys moved to have the state charges dismissed due to concerns of double jeopardy, the NADG reported. Her guilty plea is accompanied automatically by two life sentences. She was officially sentenced on Oct. 15, 2024.
An hour after after that sentencing, Jamie followed suit by also changing his plea to guilty. He only faced federal charges, however, and won’t have to endure a state trial. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Western Missouri said in a statement that he will face 15 years in prison for his part in the crime.
The victim’s cousin, Lainey Boone, spoke after the sentence hearing, 5 News reports.
“This is the beginning of moving forward, a beginning of a new chapter, and we're just hoping to close it as soon as we can and get back to living our lives,” she said. “There's been a void that can't be filled anymore. We still gather as a family and enjoy our time together, but there's always that lingering, ‘Oh, they should both be here with us.’”
“Ashley’s favorite flower was the sunflower, and therefore yellow is our color that we will always remember and honor Ashley with,” said Ashley’s aunt, Cyndi Copher, who went on note that their road to justice isn’t over yet.
“As we move forward, we will search and we will seek the maximum of justice for the next stage of where our fight will take us,” she said.
KARK reports that Amber’s pre-trial hearing for the state charges is scheduled for July 7, 2025.
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Sources
DOJ statement and criminal complaints