Victim's mother said five words to Taylor Parker after death sentence that was left out of Maternal Instinct
Warning: This article contains details of murder which some readers may find distressing.
The case of Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock's murder has received renewed attention following the release of Netflix's Maternal Instinct.
The disturbing documentary premiered on Netflix on June 12 and has already been viewed more than 15 million times.
The program follows the story of Taylor Parker, a young woman who faked her own pregnancy for 10 months.
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While the family of her boyfriend, Wade Griffin, expressed their doubts over Taylor's pregnancy after collecting numerous pieces of evidence that suggested that she wasn't actually carrying a child, Taylor wouldn't admit that she wasn't really pregnant.
But Taylor was determined to get a child to prove everyone wrong, even if it meant the baby wasn't actually hers.
Prior to her fake pregnancy, Taylor befriended Reagan after she was hired to be a photographer at her wedding.
Reagan was then under the impression that both she and Taylor were pregnant at the same time.
On October 9, 2020, Taylor paid Reagan a visit. During this visit, she brutally murdered the expectant mother (who already had two children) and proceeded to cut her unborn baby out of her womb.
Taylor then tried to pass off the child, whom the family posthumously named Braxlynn, as her own. Sadly, neither baby Braxlynn nor Reagan, who was 21, survived and Taylor went on to be charged with murder.
Just over two years later and Taylor was handed the death sentence for her heinous crimes.
At her sentencing, Reagan's mom, Jessica Brookes, read out a tear-jerking victim statement to the court and described Taylor as an 'evil piece of flesh demon'.
She said (per Texarkana Gazette) to Taylor: "I know you think this all about you. But it's about Reagan and Braxlynn.
"[Reagan] was one of the very few people on this Earth who cared about you. Now who cares about you? My baby was alive still fighting for her babies when you tore her open and ripped her baby from her stomach."
Reagan's younger sister, Emily, also gave a statement.
Emily, who was engaged to be married at the time, said: "My only biological sister. You need to understand what you took from me and my family. No more celebrating her birthday.
"I was barely 19 when I got the call my sister was gone."
She continued: "She will never be my maid of honor. If I visit my sister I have to go to a graveyard and see a headstone. I will never get a text or phone call from again."
Taylor has been on death row ever since. A date for her execution is yet to be scheduled.
A timeline of Taylor Parker’s crime
2014
Mother-of-two and wedding photographer Taylor Parker decides to get her tubes tied after suffering pre-eclampsia, a dangerous condition which raises blood pressure, during her last pregnancy.
2015
Parker goes to her doctor with bleeding, who concludes she has had an ectopic pregnancy. She undergoes a hysterectomy, permanently removing her ability to have children.
July 2019
Parker, who is now twice divorced, meets hog trapper Wade Griffin at a local rodeo and they start a relationship. She lies to him that she is the heir to a $6 million estate.
September 2019
Jessica Brookes hires Parker as the photographer at her daughter Reagan Hancock’s wedding to longtime boyfriend Homer Hancock. Parker also previously took their engagement photos.
January 2020
Parker tells Griffin she’s pregnant. He doesn’t know about the hysterectomy. To maintain the ruse, Parker wears a fake pregnancy bump, takes maternity photos and throws a gender reveal party. She claims her due date is September.
Staffers at the hospital where Parker had her hysterectomy are ‘very confused’ about her social media updates, but are bound by privacy laws.
May 2020
Hancock tells her mum Jessica that she’s pregnant with her second child. Jessica later says that after Parker finds out Hancock is pregnant and expecting a girl, she starts to have more contact with her.
September 2020
After her ‘due date’ passes, Parker tells Griffin she will need to be induced or have a C-section.
October 9 2020
Parker watches a video on how to deliver a baby pre-term at 35 weeks, the length of Hancock’s pregnancy. She tells Griffin she is travelling to Idabel, Oklahoma to be induced. Instead, she travels to Hancock’s home, killing her and cutting her unborn child, Braxlynn Sage, from her womb. Hancock’s three-year-old daughter is later found in the house unharmed.
Parker is later pulled over by a Texas State Trooper for erratic driving. As the trooper is approaching her car, she calls 911 and asks for an ambulance, saying: “I’m starting to have my baby.”
The trooper finds Taylor covered in dried blood and holding Hancock’s dead baby, with the umbilical cord still attached.
She is taken to hospital, where it is soon determined she has not given birth. She is arrested the same day.
December 2020
Taylor is indicted by a grand jury on charges of capital murder and kidnapping.
October 2022
Parker is convicted of capital murder.
November 2022
Parker is sentenced to death. Jessica says a ‘heavy burden has been lifted’.
May 2026
The Supreme Court says it will not review Parker’s case. She remains on death row. A date of execution has not been set.
June 12 2026
Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct is released.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Documentaries, Texas
Niamh Shackleton