Woman Pleads Guilty To Luring Pregnant Mom To Her Death With Fake Job Offer

A Missouri resident on Tuesday pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of a pregnant Arkansas woman who was lured to her death with a fake job opportunity, federal prosecutors announced .

Amber Waterman, 44, faces a mandatory life sentence in federal prison without parole for the killing of 33-year-old Ashley Bush. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 15.

An autopsy determined that Bush died from “penetrating trauma of the torso,” authorities said in a press release. The mother of three was about 31 weeks pregnant with a girl she planned to name Valkyrie Willis. Waterman had intended to claim the baby as her own, but the unborn child also died, prosecutors said.

According to a federal complaint obtained by HuffPost, Waterman admitted to creating a Facebook account under the name of Lucy Barrows in October 2022 and publicly offering “baby items” for expectant mothers.

Prosectors said Waterman used the Facebook account to communicate with Bush, saying that she would help her get a job.

Bush’s fiance said that he and Bush met with “Lucy” on Oct. 28, 2022, at a public library to discuss employment opportunities with a company called Conduent, according to the complaint. Another meeting was set for Oct. 31 at a convenience store in Maysville, Arkansas.

On that date, Bush got into Waterman’s truck so she could go meet a Conduent supervisor, authorities said. But Bush was instead driven to Waterman’s home in Pineville, Missouri.

Bush was reported missing that same day. Meanwhile, first responders were called to assist with an emergency report of a baby not breathing in Pineville.

Waterman said she’d told first responders that she gave birth to the child in her truck while on the way to the hospital, according to authorities. She ultimately acknowledged that the child belonged to Bush.

Detectives investigating Bush’s disappearance were led to Waterman’s home, where they found the truck that Bush was last seen in, according to the complaint. Authorities also spoke with Waterman’s husband, who allegedly said that he observed his wife cleaning blood from the truck and burning the cleaning rags in a barrel.

Waterman told her husband on Nov. 2, 2022, that she had killed Bush, but she “quickly changed her story” to say instead that Lucy had killed her, according to the complaint. She then led her husband to Bush’s body, which was covered in a blue tarp near their home.

With her husband’s assistance, Waterman burned the body and hid the remains a short distance from their residence, the complaint said. Waterman’s husband later showed detectives where the charred human remains were located, it added.

Prosecutors have charged the husband with being an accessory after the fact to kidnapping resulting in death. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in October.