BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Amber Waterman was arrested in Missouri in 2022 and charged federally for allegedly kidnapping a pregnant woman and killing her with the intent to claim her unborn child as her own.
Since her arrest, Waterman has been held by authorities in Missouri awaiting a federal jury trial.
With two capital murder charges and one count of kidnapping also pending against Waterman in Benton County, Prosecuting Attorney Josh Robinson has spent almost two years waiting for Waterman to make her first appearance in court here. He is seeking the death penalty.
"We let the U.S. Attorney's office know pretty quickly that if they get the approval to seek death, we'll back off. We'll dismiss our case, as long as somebody can do what the family wants," says Robinson. But the U.S. Attorney will not seek the death penalty, only life in prison.
"We've never been able to secure Miss Waterman's presence in court. We offered to do it by video so she never had to leave federal custody, that was denied," Robinson adds. "Now, the only time we can demand her presence is after there's been a verdict or conviction in the federal case."
That is because of a double jeopardy statute, meaning a defendant can not be re-tried in the same criminal case.
Waterman is set to change her plea from not guilty in Missouri federal court on July 30th, which means she's likely not going to trial there.
In Benton County court on July 15, Judge Robin Green ruled that Waterman must appear on Oct. 28, where the prosecuting and defense attorneys should be prepared to argue the double-jeopardy statute.
Robinson says "We wanted to be able to get some things moving and make sure that a lot of the preliminary stuff was taken care of. But now the judge is wanting to push things forward because we've missed a lot of time."
With Bush's family reportedly pushing for the death penalty, Robinson says he's prepared them for if the case does not end that way.
"I've done my best to try to tell them about all the pitfalls and things that could go wrong," Robinson says. "I think they're frustrated and I think they're tired."
For a full timeline of the case, from the alleged kidnapping to Waterman's arrest, check out our article here.
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