Victim's mother said five words to Taylor Parker after death sentence that was left out of Maternal Instinct
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Documentaries, Texas
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Documentaries, Texas
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 the Netflix documentary, 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 or 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 Simmons 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.
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].