Loved ones of a woman who was strangled to death and stuffed in the trunk of her best friend’s car in an apparent attempt to steal her newborn baby, held a memorial service as mystery over her death deepened.
Video and photos obtained by DailyMail.com shows friends of 33-year-old Heidi Broussard gathered at the informal service in Texas, releasing heart-shaped helium balloons into the air as the sun set.
The Austin mother’s body was discovered last Thursday after a tip led police to a suburban home in Houston. They also found Heidi’s three-week-old daughter Margot alive and well inside the home.
Police arrested Broussard’s best friend, Magen Fieramusca, in connection with the death, and charged her on Friday with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse.
Friends of Heidi Broussard gathered for an informal service on Sunday, releasing heart-shaped helium balloons into the air as the sun set. The 33-year-old was found strangled to death and stuffed in the trunk of her best friend Magen Fieramusca’s car last Thursday in Houston. Although Broussard was found dead, her three-week old baby Margot was found alive
Video and photos obtained by DailyMail.com shows friends of Broussard gathered at the informal service in Texas, releasing heart-shaped helium balloons into the air as the sun set
One of Broussard’s friends, Alexandra Hicks, posted a video of the memorial, showing the balloons float into the sky. ‘Our hearts are broken. Life just won’t be the same,’ Hicks, 27, wrote
Police arrested Broussard’s best friend, Magen Fieramusca (pictured together), in connection with the death, and charged her on Friday with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse
One of Broussard’s friends, Alexandra Hicks, posted a video of the memorial, showing the balloons float into the sky.
‘Our hearts are broken. Life just won’t be the same,’ Hicks, 27, wrote.
The San Marcos-based friend also posted a picture taken this year at a local church event showing Broussard pregnant with her baby Margot, who was born in November.
Michele Johnson, 47, posted pictures on Facebook of the memorial service.
‘We said goodbye to the dearest of friends today… Heidi,’ Johnson, who lives in Salado, Texas, wrote.
‘We will miss your angelic singing, your free spirit, and your infectious laugh (just to name a few things). Anytime would have been far too soon.’
Johnson, who has been left distraught by the death of her friend, posted on Friday on her Facebook after Broussard’s murder was confirmed, saying: ‘The rain fell like tears for you Heidi. Speechless.’
Broussard’s aunt, Hope Thompson, also wrote of her anguish in a Facebook post on Monday morning.
Michele Johnson, 47, posted pictures on Facebook of the memorial service. ‘We said goodbye to the dearest of friends today… Heidi,’ Johnson, who lives in Salado, Texas, wrote. ‘We will miss your angelic singing, your free spirit, and your infectious laugh (just to name a few things). Anytime would have been far too soon.’ Pictured: Broussard pregnant with Margot
Fieramusca (left in her most recent mugshot and right in a previous mugshot) and Broussard had been ‘best friends’ and first met at a church camp when they were 11-years-old, and was with Broussard when she gave birth last month. Authorities say Fieramusca, who also goes by Megan Humphrey, pretended the baby was her own with the name ‘Luna Mae’
‘My mind and heart is so full and broken I have yet to speak the words R.I.P to my niece cause I can’t accept this it’s wrong and it’s not fair please continue to pray for us,’ the 42-year-old from Winnsboro, Louisiana, wrote.
Police are yet to charge anyone with murder over the strangling-homicide, but announced Friday they had arrested a second, unnamed person in connection with the death.
A Travis county court official said Fieramusca was expected to appear in court on January 2 or 3.
Fieramusca and Broussard had been ‘best friends’ for more than two decades and first met at a church camp when they were 11 years old. Fieramusca was with Broussard when she gave birth last month.
Authorities say Fieramusca, who also goes by Megan Humphrey, pretended the baby was her own with the name ‘Luna Mae’
She had been faking her own pregnancy throughout Heidi’s, with the intention of stealing her baby once she’d given birth, cops say.
She kept up the act with everyone she knew, including lawyers who represented her against a year-old theft case.
Fieramusca, also 33, had set up a baby registry on Amazon with Christopher Green, who owns the house where the body and baby were found.
The 33-year-old mother disappeared on December 12 with her three-week-old daughter Margot. On Thursday, her body was found in the trunk of a car parked outside of this Houston home. Inside investigators found a baby, believed to be Margot, alive and well
Heidi and baby Margot were reported missing by Broussard’s fiance Shane Carey, who is also Margot’s father, at 7.30pm on December 12
Despite the baby registry and multiple pictures on social media of the two together, Green’s mother told DailyMail.com Green was not in a romantic relationship with Fieramusca and was just her landlord.
On social media Broussard hailed Fieramusca as her best friend and gushed about their close friendship on Facebook.
Broussard and Margot had vanished on December 12, last seen in their home in Austin, 165 miles away from where Broussard’s body was found near Houston.
They disappeared after dropping Broussard’s other child, six-year-old Silas, off at school.
Video from Broussard’s apartment complex capture her getting into Fieramusca’s car willingly on December 12 with her daughter, according to ABC13.
Broussard’s fiancé Shane Carey had made desperate public pleas for them to come home.