Emily Osment stars in Netflix’s Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard, which was released on April 17. The crime drama reconstructs one of America’s most unsettling cases involving a newborn theft and murder.
Directed by Michelle Ouellet (The True Heroines), the Lifetime drama film is based on a real 2019 murder case.
What is the Heidi Broussard 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.
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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.
This was not a crime committed in a moment of passion. 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.
Where is Magen Fieramusca now?
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.
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Magen was sentenced to 55 years in prison with the possibility of parole on February 2, 2023. 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 in a statement at the time.
“This outcome will save the families from having to endure the difficult post-conviction litigation process,” Garza added. “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.”
The Netflix film stars Anna Hopkins as Heidi and Emily Osment as Magen.