Magen Fieramusca indicted in connection with death of Heidi Broussard

AUSTIN, Texas - A grand jury has indicted a woman in connection with the death of a missing Austin woman.

Magen Fieramusca

Magen Fieramusca, 34, has been indicted on charges of capital murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of 33-year-old Heidi Broussard, says a release from the Travis County District Attorney's Office.

According to the indictment, on or around Dec. 12, during the kidnapping of Broussard and her three-month-old daughter Margo Carey, Fieramusca strangled Broussard by ligature strangulation, and with a leash, her hands, and an unknown manner.

Fieramusca’s bond has been set at $1,000,000 for capital murder and $100,000 for the kidnapping charge.

Broussard and her daughter Margo were reported missing from the Austin area on Thursday, Dec. 12 after Broussard dropped off her 6-year-old son at Cowan Elementary School. Police said Broussard and her baby returned home, where their belongings were found, before disappearing.

Missing Heidi Broussard and Margo Carey of Austin, Texas. (Austin Police Department)

Broussard's body was found in the trunk of a vehicle parked behind a Houston-area home after she and Margo had been missing for more than a week; she had been strangled to death. Baby Margo was found safe inside the home.

Fieramusca was implicated in Broussard's death and Margo's kidnapping. She was initially charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a human corpse in late December.

Fieramusca, who was known to also go by the last name Humphrey, was a 'close friend' of Heidi's. They met around ten years go while attending the Texas Bible Institute in Columbus, Texas. Magen and Heidi would speak regularly on the phone, according to Heidi's boyfriend Shane Carey.

An arrest affidavit released earlier this month detailed how officials learned about Fieramusca during the course of their investigation. The affidavit said Shane Carey was under the impression that Magen and Heidi had become pregnant at the same time in 2019, and that he had seen her holding her hands to her apparently pregnant stomach, appearing to support the weight of her unborn child.

Heidi Broussard and Margo Carey (Tammy Broussard)

Fieramusca had driven from her home in the Houston area to South Austin on Nov. 26 when she was approximately 37 weeks pregnant after she was told Heidi's water broke on Nov. 25. That afternoon, Heidi and Shane gave her a key to their apartment in South Austin so she could stay with them.

Fieramusca was present when Margo Carey was born at St. David's South Austin Hospital on Nov. 26, according to the affidavit. She stayed with them until the next day, then in early December, Shane learned from Heidi that Fieramusca had delivered a baby girl, but he was not shown any photos of the child.

Officials had requested records from Google, Inc. related to Fieramusca's email address during the course of their investigation. A review of her search history identified a Google search for "reasons for Amber Alert" performed at 10:30 p.m. the day of Heidi and Margo's disappearance. An official AMBER Alert had not been released for Margo Carey.

A Google search for "Amer alert issued Austin" was also performed by Fieramusca that night, says the affidavit.

A full review of searches performed by Fieramusca between Nov. 11, 2019, and Dec. 18, 2019, revealed some form of "Heidi Broussard" was searched at least 162 times. On Dec. 14, a search was conducted using her Google account for the words "bodies found in Austin, Texas."

Historical location data obtained from T-Mobile through a search warrant showed Fieramusca's phone was located in the Austin area near Broussard and Carey's apartment on Dec. 12.

FBI agents and Texas DPS investigators began conducting surveillance on Fieramusca's residence on Dec. 19 and a Texas DPS helicopter was used for aerial observations. The helicopter operator noted a vehicle parked in the backyard in a manner consistent with an attempt to conceal it from public view, according to the affidavit.

Shane Carey told officials involved in the investigation that Fieramusca was in a relationship with Christopher Green, whom she lived with. FBI agents observed Green leave the home on Dec. 19 and drive to a Target store.

Green was seen shopping for baby clothes and formula inside the store. As Green was leaving the Target, investigators spoke with him. Green told DPS investigators he was in a relationship with Fieramusca since 2016 and lived together, but that he and Fieramusca broke up in March 2019 with both parties remaining at the residence.

Green said Fieramusca became pregnant in the spring of 2019 and told investigators he noticed her stomach grow during that year and that he had felt her stomach, which he described as hard. He also told investigators that he never saw her bare stomach during the pregnancy, stating that their relationship during that year did not lend itself to seeing her in stages of undress.

Heidi Broussard and Margo Carey

According to the affidavit, she left to go to the beach with a cousin while he stayed in Houston. When he saw her next on Dec. 13, she told him, "don't be mad, don't be mad." Green asked her why he would be mad and she told him that she went into labor and delivered the baby without his knowledge.

Texas Rangers showed Green a flyer produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children featuring images of Heidi Broussard and Margo Carey. He looked at the flyer and stated, "that's the baby at my house."

Texas Rangers spoke with Fieramusca outside her home, according to the affidavit. She told Rangers that she went to a birthing center in The Woodlands, but that she could not remember the name of the birthing center in which she reportedly gave birth. Fieramusca stated the only people present during the delivery were employees of the "birthing center."

Members of Texas DPS went to the home to perform a welfare check on the newborn. A young infant child whose physical appearance was consistent with Margo Carey's was located.

READ MORE