Dee Dee started lying about Gypsys health when she was a baby.

Dee Dee had Munchausen syndrome by proxy , a condition that causes people to make up or induce illnesses in people they care for, like a child or elderly parent, in order to get sympathy and attention. Dee Dee told people that Gypsy had leukemia, asthma, muscular dystrophy, seizures, brain damage and learning disabilities.

She forced her to use a wheelchair and feeding tube when she needed neither. Dee Dee lied about Gypsys symptoms, leading to unnecessary surgeries and medication. She home-schooled her because she said Gypsy couldnt keep up in regular school. No one knew that Gypsy was actually a healthy child.

Dee Dee profited off of Gypsys fake illnesses.

As a single mom raising an extremely ill child, Dee Dee got a lot of sympathy. The family received donations and free trips regularly from organizations like Make-A-Wish and Ronald McDonald House. The trailer for "The Act" hints at this.

Habitat for Humanity provided Dee Dee and Gypsy with a house (complete with a wheelchair ramp and hot tub for Gypsys muscle pain) when they lost theirs during Hurricane Katrina. Thats when the family moved from Louisiana to Springfield, Missouri, where they stayed until Dee Dees murder.

Gypsy discovered that her health issues were a lie, but felt she couldnt escape her mom.

As Gypsy got older and realized what her mother was doing, she tried to fight back. When she wouldnt use her walking aids, Dee Dee would beat her. In a 20/20 interview last year, she said she tried to escape, only to be chained to her bed. Her mom would never leave her side, and Gypsy felt she had to go along with the lies. Late at night, when Dee Dee was asleep, she would escape online and eventually met a boyfriend on the site ChristianSingles.com, Nick Godejohn.

Gypsy confided in Nick Godejohn , and they made a plan to kill Dee Dee.

Gypsy told Nick about what her mom was doing and how she wanted to get away, and Nick was willing to murder Dee Dee to make that happen. In 2015, when Gypsy was 23, Nick stabbed Dee Dee to death in their Springfield home. He and Gypsy then fled to Wisconsin, where Nick lived. Dee Dee was found dead days later after a series a strange Facebook messages appeared on her page that caused police to investigate. At first, it was thought that Gypsy had been kidnapped, but when police found her with Nick, they were shocked to see she wanted to be there-and she was healthy.

Gypsy is currently in prison for the murder of Dee Dee.

Both Gypsy and Nick were arrested-Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years at Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, which you can see in the video below.

Nick was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2018, and sentenced to life in prison without parole in February 2019. In 2023, when Gypsy is 32, shell be eligible for parole. She's opened up about the fact that she feels she didn't deserve a 10-year sentence, but understands that her involvement in the murder was still wrong, which you can see in the Dr. Phil clip below. Gypsy is nearly unrecognizable from the time she was living with Dee Dee.

You can learn more about Gypsy's story in the 2017 HBO documentary, "Mommy Dead and Dearest."