A Texas woman has admitted she’s guilty of a shocking crime: strangling her best friend to death then kidnapping her newborn daughter.

A little over 3 years ago, in December 2019, Heidi Broussard (pictured above, inset) disappeared from her home in Austin. The mother, who had only just given birth to her daughter Margot and also had a 6-year-old son, was reported missing from her apartment by her fiancé Shane Carey. Upon finding his partner was gone, he also was horrified to realize newborn baby Margot was nowhere to be found as well.

A very intense and highly publicized search took place with police all over the state, eventually leading them to the home of Magen Fieramusca (above, left) near Houston. It didn’t take police long to find Heidi’s body, stuffed in a duffel bag and in the trunk of her supposed best friend’s car, just sitting parked in her driveway. An autopsy of her mother was conducted it was found she’d been strangled to death with a dog leash. Just awful… Thankfully, the newborn baby was found unharmed — Magen had only stolen the infant.

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Fieramusca was arrested and charged with capital murder and tampering with a corpse. She was also originally charged with kidnapping the 3-week-old baby, claiming Margot as her own.

It almost seems this might have been planned for some time. According to what family friend Vickie Shreves told People at the time, the 37-year-old even pretended to be pregnant at the same time as Heidi, eventually even showing up for the birth of Margot but leaving before saying goodbye. Vickie noted she appeared very “somber.”

According to court docs this went back decades. The two women met at church camp when they were only 11 years old and talked about both being pregnant for some time — even planning on potentially giving birth on the same day. Shane told prosecutors his wife had told him Magen gave birth to a baby girl, although he never saw photos of the child, and no one ever heard specifics of the delivery. Apparently the whole time she was planning to pass off her best friend’s baby as her own!

The Harris County resident’s ex-boyfriend Christopher Green recounted how the day after Heidi was abducted, his then-girlfriend told him “don’t be mad” and when he asked why, she said she’d gone to a birthing center and given birth to Margot. One day when he was out buying formula for what he believed to be his girlfriend’s child, police stopped him and showed him a flier of the missing 3-week-old, to which he said:

“That’s the baby in my house.”

So chilling! Can you even imagine??

On Thursday, Fieramusca waived her right to appeal and pled guilty, earning herself a 55-year jail sentence for the murder of her best friend and the kidnapping of her child. Being charged for capital murder, she originally faced life without parole, but due to her plea she will have the possibility of parole halfway through her sentence. She will also receive credit for the three years she served in prison prior to the sentencing.

Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a statement Thursday:

“We are hopeful that this outcome will bring some closure to the Broussard and Carey families and help them continue their healing process. This outcome will save the families from having to endure the difficult post-conviction litigation process.”

According to multiple outlets, during the hearing the victim’s mother Tammy Broussard spoke directly to Fieramusca, saying:

“We miss her dearly. She’s forever strong in the midst of all the people. She was just so much fun and just so full of life and now it’s been taken.”

So sad…

What do U think, Perezcious readers? Is this sentence too light? Would anything be enough for such a shocking act? Let us know in the comments (below).

[Image via YouTube/KXAN/Facebook/Heidi Elizabeth]