Attorneys for Amber Waterman want Benton County charges dismissed because of double jeopardy

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The attorneys for a Missouri woman accused of killing a pregnant Benton County woman and her unborn child want the state charges dismissed, according to court documents.

Amber Waterman, 44, of Pineville, Mo., is charged in Benton County with two counts of capital murder and kidnapping.

Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson previously told KNWA/FOX24 that they are seeking the death penalty against Waterman.

On August 1, Waterman’s attorneys, Jeff Rosenzweig and Katherine Streett, filed a motion requesting the judge to dismiss the charges brought by prosecutors.

Waterman pleaded guilty in Springfield, Missouri federal court on July 30 on kidnapping resulting in death and causing the death of a child in utero.

Waterman is set to be given a mandatory life sentence in federal prison without parole on each count, under federal statutes, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

The release said by pleading guilty in federal court, Waterman admitted to kidnapping Ashley Bush in order to claim her unborn child, Valkyrie Willis, as her own.

She also admitted to communicating with Bush over Facebook while using a false name and offered her a job.

The two met at the public library in Gravette on October 28, 2022, and agreed to meet again three days later.

On October 31, 2022, Bush met Waterman at a convenience store in Maysville “under the pretext that Waterman was taking her to meet a supervisor to further discuss employment,” the release said.

Bush was then allegedly kidnapped by Waterman and taken to Waterman’s residence in Pineville, Missouri.

Around 5 p.m., emergency responders went to a store in Pineville for a call about a baby not breathing. Waterman told them she had given birth to the child in the vehicle on the way to the hospital.

“But in reality, she admitted, the child was Bush’s child, who died in utero, as a result of Waterman’s kidnapping that resulted in the death of Bush,” the release said.

Autopsy results showed Bush died as a result of penetrating trauma to her torso and the death was ruled a homicide.

Her attorneys claim she has been charged for the same conduct in both Benton County court and federal court, alleging she kidnapped Bush and that her and her unborn child died in relation to the kidnapping.

The motion said the only difference between the charges in the two cases is the Benton County charges require “premeditated and deliberated purpose for the deaths while the federal charges do not require a specific culpable mental state for the homicide.”

It continued by claiming that state prosecutors “chose to charge the ‘premeditated and deliberated purpose’ alternative rather than the more obvious felony-murder alternative” in order to avoid double jeopardy, but the attempt failed.

Her attorneys want the charges dismissed because of the double jeopardy issue.

As of August 13, a response has not been filed by Robinson.

A hearing on the double jeopardy issue has been scheduled for October 28.

Waterman’s federal sentencing is set for October 15.

Her husband, Jamie Waterman, is charged federally with one count of being an accessory after the fact to kidnapping resulting in death. He is not facing any charges in Benton County.

Jamie pleaded not guilty on November 28, 2022, and his federal trail is set to start on October 21 in Springfield.

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