The release of Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard on Netflix on April 17 has brought the 2019 murder case in focus again. The crime drama reconstructs one of America’s most unsettling cases involving a newborn theft and murder.
Heidi left behind two children with her fiancé Shane Carey – a son named Silas (born in 2013) and a daughter named Margot Elizabeth Carey (born November 26, 2019). Heidi and Margot, then just a couple of weeks old, were abducted in 2019. While Heidi was tragically murdered by her friend Magen Fieramusca, Margot was found safe.
The Netflix film stars Anna Hopkins as Heidi Broussard and Emily Osment as Magen. The Lifetime drama film is directed by Michelle Ouellet (The True Heroines).
Who is raising Silas and Margot?
After Heidi’s murder, her daughter Margot was returned to the custody of her father, Heidi’s fiancé, Shane Carey. Shane is now raising Margot outside the public eye, with the help of extended family, in Austin, Texas, per Distractify.
Heidi’s mother Tammy Broussard is raising Silas, per the outlet.
“We miss Heidi so much. It’s just so disappointing that she’s not here anymore,” Tammy previously said, according to CBS Austin.
The shocking case
Heidi, a 33-year-old woman, was last seen alive on December 12, 2019, when she dropped her eldest child at school in Austin, Texas, with her newborn daughter Margot in tow. When she did not return home to her partner Shane Carey, police launched a manhunt for her and her infant. The case took a shocking turn when authorities began focusing on a neighbor’s account: before vanishing, Heidi was seen getting into a car belonging to her long-distance friend, Magen Fieramusca from Houston.
Investigators said that Magen had claimed she was pregnant too, at the same time as Heidi. However, Magen’s pregnancy was fake.
Magen drove from Houston to Austin, claiming she wanted to support her friend when she gave birth and during recovery, when it was actually a calculated scene to acquire Heidi’s baby.
Magen strangled Heidi to death using a combination of a dog leash and her bare hands. Her motive was to steal the infant and raise her as her own child.
Investigators later found Heidi’s body in the trunk of Magen’s car. Margot was found safe inside the Houston home. The child was reunited with her father and family. Police found out that Heidi had been killed just days after she gave birth.
Magen meticulously constructed a false pregnancy over several months, ultimately betraying a friend who trusted her. Heidi and Magen had been friends for years. The native Texans met when they were 11 years old at Texas Bible Institute in Columbus, Texas, an arrest affidavit obtained by CNN revealed.
Magen was arrested shortly after Heidi’s body was discovered, and originally charged with capital murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse. She accepted a plea deal in January 2023, reducing the murder charge to first-degree but waiving her right to appeal.
On February 2, 2023, Magen was sentenced to 55 years in prison with the possibility of parole She is now serving her sentence at the William P. Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas. She will be eligible for parole in 2047, according to inmate records, but could remain in prison until December 2074.
“We are hopeful that this outcome will bring some closure to the Broussard and Carey families and help them continue their healing process,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza said at the time. “This outcome will save the families from having to endure the difficult post-conviction litigation process. We are grateful to our prosecutors and law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly on this case and secured justice for the victim’s families and our community.”
