A Missouri woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after pleading guilty to the kidnapping and murder of a pregnant woman, whose baby she cut from her womb.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri, 44-year-old Amber Waterman pled guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death, and one count of thereby causing the death of a child in utero. Waterman posed as a woman named Lucy Barrow on Facebook, pretending to have baby clothes to give away to find a pregnant woman whose baby she could steal. She eventually made contact with Ashley Bush, telling Bush she had a job opportunity for her. Bush was 31 weeks pregnant at the time, with a girl she had named Valkyrie Grace.
The two women first met at a public library before meeting a second time when Waterman said she would take Bush to meet her boss for the supposed job opportunity. Instead, on October 31st, 2022, Waterman kidnapped Bush and took her to her own home instead. When Waterman’s husband, Jamie, got home, he allegedly helped her dispose of Bush’s body.
Later that afternoon, Waterman called 911, reporting that she had a newborn baby who wasn’t breathing, saying she had given birth to the baby in her truck on the way to the hospital. The baby, unfortunately, died, and autopsy results confirmed she wasn’t Waterman’s baby. The couple’s behavior immediately became suspicious once they began asking questions, coroner BJ Goodwin told the New York Post. When Goodwin said he needed a cheek swab for a DNA test, Jamie Waterman “got up and ran out of the funeral home,” Goodwin said. “Hands down craziest things I have ever dealt with as a coroner for 16 years.”
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Using phone and internet records, police tracked Waterman to her home, where they found Bush’s body, dismembered and partially burned. Bush’s autopsy confirmed she had been killed through “penetrating trauma” to the torso – meaning she died when Waterman ripped her baby out of her body. After pleading guilty, Waterman is subject to a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison without parole on each count, though sentencing will be formally held in October. Jamie Waterman’s case is still pending.
“This horrific crime resulted in the tragic deaths of two innocent victims,” U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said. “Today’s guilty plea holds this defendant accountable for her actions and ensures that justice will be served. She is now subject to a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison without parole.”
