Taylor Parker's shocking long-list of ‘criminal behaviour’ not included in Netflix's Maternal Instinct
Netflix’s Maternal Instinct is a shocking story where a woman, Taylor Parker, murdered her pregnant friend Reagan Simmons Hancock.
The Netflix documentary features interviews with Parker’s ex-boyfriend Wade Griffin, who she lied to for months about being pregnant.
The film can only include so much however, and court documents show that Parker has a long list of criminal behaviour and bizarre activities inside and outside of jail that were not included in the documentary.
Warning: This article contains graphic content and descriptions of crime that some readers may find distressing.
Parker stabbed her friend Reagan to death, cutting her baby out of her stomach after her brutal attack.
She was sentenced to death for the crime and remains on death row to this day. Parker has expressed remorse in rare appearances in court, however a 2022 court document laying out her ‘extraneous offences’ do not paint a picture of a reformed woman, stating she ‘had repeatedly and continuously engaged in criminal behaviour’.
Parker lied about being pregnant on ‘several occasions’ prior to dating Wade and committed benefits fraud
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The Netflix documentary focused heavily on Taylor’s fake pregnancy which ultimately led to her murdering Regan to ‘steal’ her baby, who died in the process.
What it does not include however is that this was not the first time since her 2015 hysterectomy in which she had lied about being pregnant.
In the court document submitted by Texas prosecutors they said: “Prior to the fake pregnancy with ‘Clancy Gail’ (the name she chose for her fake baby with Wade) in January 2020, the defendant had faked several prior pregnancies, including a fake pregnancy with Hunter Parker (her ex-husband), two fake pregnancies between Hunter Parker and Wade Griffin, and a fake pregnancy with twins when she first met Wade Griffin.”
It adds that on a previous attempt to fake a pregnancy, when asked how it was possible, she reportedly said: “It’s a miracle, all my stuff grew back.”
The document also notes that she repeatedly and continuously ‘engaged in welfare and benefits fraud’, which is a felony crime.
She created an elaborate scheme involving her parents to avoid paying medical bills and engaged in multiple relationships with inmates
Whilst in prison prior to her sentencing to death row Parker reportedly would set up schemes in order to get around paying for medical bills, with her parents sending her large amounts of commissary money.
When a prisoner racks up bills it can be taken from their commissary to pay for this, so instead Parker set up schemes where her parents sent money to other inmates who would in turn buy things for Parker. At the time of the document being written in February 2022 she owed over $2,200.
In addition to that, the document outlines the multiple relationships the murderer had in prison, stating that she would lie about medical appointments to flirt with them.
It states she sent a message to a friend saying: “I need a sugar daddy to load me [some] money on this damn thing.” She had friends and family get in contact with potential suitors and had relationships with both male and female inmates whilst in prison.
She set up a ‘twisted plot’ to try and frame a mentally fragile inmate for her murder
One of the most shocking details from the document comes in the form of a scheme in which law enforcement personnel discovered a ‘twisted and extremely complicated plot’.
This came after Hanna Hullender submitted writings pertinent to the case surrounding the killing of Reagan. Cops later found a ‘witness statement’ handwritten by Parker which suggested what Hullender was supposed to say.
She told the inmate to tell police to say she had seen a black man making ‘drug drops around the jail’ and that the same vehicle had been seen by her at the scene of Reagan’s murder.
The inmate Hullender, who was ‘mentally fragile’ according to prosecutors, stated she was afraid of Parker because of her ‘ability to manipulate Corrections Officers and other inmates’.
In addition to this other inmates stated that several other handwritten notes had been given to them from Parker, asking them to submit them to either the local newspaper or COs. She offered $5,000 and $10,000 if they delivered the letters to two inmates, and asked another to find a witness to ‘come forward’, asking them to ‘be smart… pick someone smart who will bring the details to life’.
The plan was to frame Hullender as a ‘suspect’, something she believed would be enough to release her from jail and dismiss all charges. They stated: “The defendant is taking steps to alter her handwriting in order to avoid being implicated in the plot frame up Hanna Hullender in the murders”, something corroborated by a state handwriting expert.
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 conceive 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, who 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.
9 October 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.
12 June 2026
Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct is released.
Maternal Instinct is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, TV and Film, Documentaries, Crime
Michael Slavin