Texas mother Heidi Broussard was perhaps killed by close friend to steal her newborn child: 'She was with Heidi when she gave birth last month'
HUMBLE, TEXAS: A 33-year-old woman, believed to be a friend of Heidi Broussard - the woman who went missing on December 12 and whose body was later seemingly found in a car trunk in Jersey Village, Harris County, northwest of Houston - was arrested in relation to the victim's death.
According to a spokesperson from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Magen Fieramusca was charged on Friday, December 20, with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse.
Vickie Shreves, a friend of the victim's told People magazine that Fieramusca was present when Broussard gave birth to her daughter, Margot Carey, in November - a newborn who also went missing with the victim and was later found alive and unhurt inside a home in Jersey Village.
It is believed by the police that Fieramusca was the mastermind behind the abductions of Broussard, 33, and Carey, who was just a few weeks old.
A source told the Statesman that Fieramusca was secretly plotting to steal the baby throughout Heidi's pregnancy. She was was with Heidi when she gave birth to her baby last month.
Chris Fine, whose sister was friends with the suspect, told the outlet that when Fieramusca had called his sister, she could hear a baby in the background who they believe could have been Carey.
“She was supposedly Heidi’s friend for a long time,” a family member of Broussard's said. “We’ve been knowing her for a long time.”
Authorities have not revealed any possible motive behind the suspect's actions or why the victim might have been killed. Craig Cummins, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, had earlier confirmed that investigators had responded to a home in Jersey Village on Thursday in connection to the missing mother and her infant, though it is still unclear what led them to that location, MEAWW had reported earlier.
The medical examiner still needs to officially confirm the identity of the body as well as the child. Broussard was last seen dropping her 6-year-old son off at Cowan Elementary School in Austin.
Fieramusca is being held on $600,000 bond. Her arraignment was scheduled for Friday morning. Additional charges of murder could be filed against the suspect, according to the prosecutor in the case.