US woman who cuts the fetus out of the body of a pregnant woman

A woman from Missouri who killed a pregnant woman and cut the fetus out of her body in 2022 is now facing the death penalty. The 45-year-old Amber Waterman was convicted last year before a federal court for kidnapping and murder on the 33-year-old Ashley Bush, which was 31 weeks pregnant at that time. It serves two successive life penalties for the crime.

On May 8, the Supreme Court of Arkansas decided that prosecutors could continue with a capital murder proceedings against Waterman, which rejected the argument of her defense team that a second legal proceedings would violate the double risk laws.

According to the investigators, Waterman created a fake Facebook account under the name “Lucy Barrows” on October 25, 2022 and used it to contact Bush, offering her maternity clothing and a job. She convinced Bush to meet her in a parking lot of a supermarket, where she kidnapped her and later killed her. Authorities say that their motive was to steal Bush's unborn child and to raise it as their own after 5News.

After the murder, Waterman allegedly cut the fetus out of Bush's body and called 911 to be the mother. She told the emergency helpers that she born in her truck on the way to the hospital and that the baby died during the delivery.

The federal complaints showed that Waterman led her husband Jamie Waterman to Bush's body. Then he burned the body in a fireplace behind her house, put the remains in the bed of his pickup and threw it on a remote location. He later brought the police to the location.

The Watermans were arrested on November 3, 2022.

“This terrible crime led to the tragic death of two innocent victims,” ​​said US lawyer Teresa Moore in a statement in July last July. “Today's guilty plea blames this defendant for their actions and ensures that justice is served.”

Although Waterman is already behind bars for life, Benton County's prosecutors announced that it still followed the death penalty, especially because Bush's family requested this.

“The worst crimes have to bear the worst punishment, whatever that is,” said Joshua Robinson, deputy prosecutor of Benton County.

Waterman's lawyers appealed in October 2024 and argued that the indictment had violated the double danger laws. On May 8, however, the Supreme Court of Arkansas decided that the cases of the federal and state governments were based on different crimes – federal kidnapping against state -deliberate murder. The court confirmed the decision and allowed the state to continue with capital murder systems.