A Texas woman Magen Fieramusca is starting a 55-year jail sentence for murdering her best friend and kidnapping her newborn, People reports.
According to the report by People, on Thursday, Magen Fieramusca, 37, waived her right to an appeal and pleaded guilty to the 2019 killing of Heidi Broussard, 33, in an Austin courtroom.
Magen Fieramusca was initially charged with capital murder, with the likelihood that she would face life in prison without parole. Her plea means she will be eligible for parole after serving roughly half of her 55-year sentence.
She will also receive credit for the three years she served prior to her plea.
“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 Thursday.
“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.”
Fieramusca’s conviction comes a little over three years after Broussard disappeared from her Austin home. The mother of two had just given birth to her daughter Margot, when she was reported missing from the apartment she shared with her fiancé, Shane Carey, on Dec. 12, 2019. Broussard was also the mother of a 6-year-old son.
An intense and highly publicized search for Broussard led police to Fieramusca’s home in northwest Harris County, near Houston, where investigators found Broussard’s body in a duffel bag in the trunk of her car in the driveway. An autopsy later revealed she had been strangled to death with a dog leash, police said.
Thankfully, Margot was found safe and returned to her father.
Megan Fieramusca was later arrested and charged with capital murder and tampering with a corpse. She was also initially charged with kidnapping 3-week-old Margot and claiming her as her own.
Speaking after the arrest, family friend Vickie Shreves told PEOPLE that Magen Fieramusca pretended to be pregnant at the same time as Broussard. Shreves added that she also showed up in the hospital to hold Broussard’s hand while she was in labor, but grew increasingly somber and left when the baby was born without saying goodbye.
Broussard’s mother, Tammy Broussard, also told PEOPLE that she didn’t know why Fieramusca, who had been friends with her daughter since they met as students at the Texas Bible Institute in Columbus, Texas, killed her.
“This is unreal to us,” Tammy told People previously. “We can’t make sense of it.”
On Thursday, Tammy spoke to Fieramusca during the hearing, multiple outlets reported.
“We miss her dearly. She’s forever strong in the midst of all the people,” she said. “She was just so much fun and just so full of life and now it’s been taken.”
Michael J Mammone: ER Doctor Was Hit by Car While Cycling, Then Allegedly Stabbed To Death By Driver in Daytime Attack
A California doctor Michael J Mammone died after he was hit by a car while riding his bike and then stabbed by the driver, authorities said.
Dr. Michael J Mammone 58, was traveling along the Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point around 3 p.m. on Feb. 1 when a driver struck him from behind, according to a press release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver, identified as Vanroy E. Smith, 39, then allegedly got out of his vehicle with a knife and began stabbing Michael J Mammone, a physician at Providence Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach.
Smith was also allegedly holding a BB gun when he approached Mammone. According to witnesses, he then assaulted Mammone in the intersection, where Mammone was found with “severe injuries,” per CBS News.
Bystanders were able to detain Smith before deputies arrived and arrested him, authorities said. Smith was booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder.
It is not immediately clear if Smith has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
The knife he allegedly pulled out was also recovered at the scene, authorities said. It is unclear whether a gun was recovered.
Mammone was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities have not discussed motive or whether the two men knew each other.
“Investigators are keeping all options open to check those boxes if you will, to make sure they don’t leave anything uncovered,” Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Woodruff told KTLA.
Providence Mission Hospital issued a statement Thursday confirming Mammone’s death.
“The entire Mission Hospital family is grieving over the loss of an incredible physician and friend,” the statement read, per KTLA. “We will honor Dr. Mammone’s dedication to our community and passion for medicine by continuing to provide exceptional care.”
Dr. Dawn Aatwal, a cardiologist at the hospital, told Fox 11 that Mammone “saved so many lives here,” adding how the violence happened not far from where he worked.
“That’s the irony of this whole thing,” she said. “If a patient was brought in his condition he would have done everything he could to save that person.”
According to his profile on U.S. News and World Report, Mammone has more than two decades of medical experience.