Friend Sentenced to 55 Years for Murdering Mother and Stealing Baby

A Friendship Turned Deadly

Shane Carey still catches himself waiting for that familiar text message. "I'm waiting for that text message, like, 'Hey sweetie, how we doing?' … Just waiting to hear her voice," he told ABC News, describing the unbearable reality of losing his fiancée Heidi Broussard in one of the most shocking betrayals imaginable.

Broussard, 33, and the couple's infant daughter, Margot, had been missing for a week before the young woman was found strangled to death in the trunk of the car of her close friend, Magen Fieramusca, on Dec. 19 , 2019. According to Austin police, Fieramusca visited Broussard and her 3-week-old daughter, Margo, at their South Austin apartment and strangled Broussard with a dog leash. She placed Broussard's body in the trunk of her car and drove to her ex-boyfriend's Houston-area home where she attempted to pass Margo off as their daughter.

The case reached its conclusion when Magen Fieramusca, 37, pled guilty to the murder of Heidi Broussard, 33, and received a sentence of 55 years to serve in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Fieramusca, 37, was sentenced to 55 years in prison and as part of the plea, she has waived her right to appeal. Her capital murder charge was reduced to first-degree murder as part of the plea deal, as well.

An Elaborate Deception

Broussard and Fieramusca had been friends for more than a decade, Broussard's boyfriend Shane Carey told police, according to an arrest affidavit. They met while attending the Texas Bible Institute in Columbus, Texas . What made this betrayal particularly devastating was the calculated nature of Fieramusca's deception.

Investigators determined Fieramusca had been plotting to kill her childhood friend for weeks. She pretended to be pregnant at the same time as Broussard and after killing her, she told everyone that Margo was her baby. Shane Carey told investigators that Fieramusca drove to Austin to go to prenatal appointments with Broussard. She returned to help her "bestie" after Margo was born. They gave her a key to their apartment but she never returned it.

When investigators spoke with Green, they showed him a flyer of missing baby Margot -- and Green replied, "That's the baby at my house," according to an arrest affidavit. The discovery led authorities to Fieramusca's home where they smelled the "unmistakable odor of decomposing flesh" coming from the trunk of Fieramusca's Nissan Versa.

Unanswered Questions

Even with Fieramusca behind bars, Carey struggles with lingering doubts about what really happened. "Heidi is way stronger than Magen. There has to be a second person. There is no way Magen was by herself," he insisted, expressing disbelief that someone he knew could orchestrate such violence alone.

"I want to look at her straight in the eyes and ask her why?" Carey said of Fieramusca. "That's all I want to say. There's no reason for any of this." His frustration extended to the legal process itself, questioning why Fieramusca hadn't been charged with murder initially. "I guess it's tampering with evidence, [but] how is no one charged [with murder]? … There has to be someone charged," Carey said.

A Family's Journey Forward

During the sentencing hearing, Heidi Broussard's mother Tammy Broussard said, "She's forever strong in the midst of all the people's lives she touched. And she'll live on forever." "This is something I never imagined in my whole life, me and my husband," she added. "She was just so much fun and so full of life, and now it's been taken from her."

For now, Carey said he's trying to stay strong for baby Margot. He's also preparing to launch a foundation in Heidi's memory called "Heidi and Shane's Family Fund," to support families who have suffered traumatic events. While justice has been served through the legal system, the emotional wounds remain fresh for those who loved Heidi Broussard, forever changed by a betrayal that shattered their understanding of friendship and trust.