Texas Woman Accused of Strangling Best Friend, Then Stealing Her Newborn Girl Expected to Plead Guilty
Police say Magen Fieramusca lured best friend Heidi Broussard into her car before killing her and kidnapping her 3-week-old baby, claiming the child as her own
A Texas woman accused of killing her best friend and kidnapping her newborn in 2019 is expected to plead guilty to murdering her.
Magen Fieramusca, 37, is scheduled to appear in Travis County Criminal Court on Thursday, to enter the plea in connection with the death of Heidi Broussard, 33, online court records show.
Broussard, the mother of a 6-year-old son who had just given birth to her second child, daughter Margo Carey, on Nov. 26, 2019, was reported missing on Dec. 12, 2019, from the south Austin apartment she shared with fiancé Shane Carey, say authorities.
An intense search for Broussard led police to Fieramusca’s home, where investigators found Broussard’s body in a duffel bag in the trunk of her car in the driveway of her Houston area home.
Broussard had been strangled to death with a dog leash, police said.
Fieramusca was arrested and originally charged with capital murder and tampering with a corpse in Broussard’s death.
She was also initially charged with kidnapping Broussard’s 3-week-old daughter and claiming her as her own.
If convicted, Fieramusca faced a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Now Fieramusca is expected to accept a plea deal that would sentence her to 55 years in prison, the Travis County District Attorney’s office said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
In exchange for pleading guilty, Fieramusca would solely be convicted of the lesser charge of murder and not capital murder.
The charges of kidnapping and tampering with evidence would be dropped.
In the statement sent to PEOPLE, Travis County District Attorney’s Office said, “On January 31, the District Attorney’s Office expects Megan [Magen] Fieramusca to plead guilty to the murder of Heidi Broussard.
“The plea is conditioned on Ms. Fieramusca receiving a sentence of 55 years and waiving her right to appeal, meaning that the defense will not be able to litigate decisions made by the Court during pre-trial litigation.
“We hope that this outcome brings some closure and allows the Broussard and Carey families to continue their healing process. Our hearts continue to break for them and their immeasurable loss.”
Fieramusca’s court appearance was changed from Tuesday to Thursday because of an ice storm that closed the court on Tuesday, the court said on its website.
Suspect’s Lawyer Expects 55-Year Sentence
Fieramusca’s attorney, Brian Erskine, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that he, too, hopes the plea deal brings closure to Broussard’s family.
“The Defense and Prosecution have come to a negotiated agreement, and we expect a sentence of 55 years in prison from the Court,” he said.
“As charged, Ms. Fieramusca was looking at life without the possibility of parole.
“After considerable discussion, in conjunction with significant compelling mitigation related to Ms. Fieramusca and the possible appellate issues related to the search of her residence, both parties feel that this is the appropriate resolution.
“I imagine many have questions that will never be adequately answered, nevertheless, I hope that this plea brings some closure to this family’s great loss.”
Suspect Pretended to Be Pregnant at Same Time as Victim
To this day, Broussard’s mother, Tammy Broussard, says, she still doesn’t know why Fieramusca, who had been friends with her daughter since they met years earlier while attending the Texas Bible Institute in Columbus, Texas, killed her.
“This is unreal to us,” Tammy Broussard told PEOPLE previously. “We can’t make sense of it.”
In what turned out to be a bizarre turn of events, Fieramusca pretended to be pregnant at the same time as Broussard. She showed up in the hospital to hold Broussard’s hand while she was in labor, growing somber and quickly leaving when the baby was born without even saying goodbye, Broussard family friend Vickie Shreves told PEOPLE previously.
Tammy Broussard recently told KXAN, “I have a big portrait of Heidi and Shane and the kids and I am bringing that and hopefully they will let me put it in the courtroom so that she can see what she has done, something that will remind her of what she has done.
“I don’t have any ill feelings towards her, God has set me at peace, and we just have to get this done,” she said.
