Why woman who killed her pregnant friend and abducted her baby denied final death row meal
Here is the reason why Taylor Parker, the woman who killed her pregnant friend and abducted her unborn child, will not receive a final meal on death row.
In October 2020, Parker murdered Reagan Simmons-Hancock, a 21-year-old mother who was 35 weeks pregnant with her second child.
After killing Reagan, Parker then cut into her abdomen and stole her unborn child, a daughter to be named Braxlynn Sage Hancock, intending to pass the infant off as her own.
Parker was later pulled over by police for driving erratically, with the then 27-year-old telling officers that she had recently given birth to the baby in her car.
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However, the child was later confirmed to be Reagan's, while Parker, who'd faked her own pregnancy, was arrested and charged with capital murder, murder and kidnapping.
Parker was later found guilty, receiving the death sentence on 9 November, 2022.
The story was recently turned into a Netflix documentary, titled Maternal Instinct, which revealed that Parker was unable to have children herself and had faked numerous pregnancies under different identities, as well as the harrowing moment Reagan's family discovered her deceased body.
Why Taylor Parker won't receive a final meal behind bars
When the time comes for her execution (unless her sentence is overturned), Parker will not receive the opportunity for a final meal, with the practice being abolished in Texas, thanks to the actions of Lawrence Russell Brewer.
Prior to Brewer's case, inmates were allowed to tuck into a meal of their choosing before meeting their maker.
Brewer, who was handed a death sentence for the racially motivated murder of James Byrd Jr, was put to death in September, being offered a final meal before his execution.
The 44-year-old ordered a lavish banquet, consisting of chicken steaks, fried okra with ketchup, and a cheese omelette with ground beef, jalapenos and bell peppers as well as a 'riple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, one pound of barbecue and a half loaf of white bread, pizza meat lover's special, one pint of 'homemade vanilla' Blue Bell ice cream, one slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts and three root beers.
Despite the outlandish request, officers did their best to provide – only for Brewer to claim he wasn't hungry when presented with the food.
His behaviour riled up Texas officers so much that Senator John Whitmire promptly ended the 87-year-old tradition, meaning from that day forward, nobody on death row in Texas would get a 'special meal'.
Instead, condemned inmates now receive whatever is on the menu at the prison's cafeteria that day.
Parker is currently behind bars at Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, where she is waiting for her sentence to be carried out.
As for Taylor Parker, a date for her execution is yet to be scheduled.
The 33-year-old unsuccessfully appealed her sentence in 2025. She later filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, which was rejected in May 2026.
Maternal Instinct is available to watch on Netflix.
A timeline of Taylor Parker’s crimes
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’.
November 2025
Parker's first appeal against the kidnapping charge fails, a judge decides 'a rational juror would find beyond a reasonable doubt that Braxlynn was 'born alive' at the time that Parker kidnapped or attempted to kidnap her'.
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
Release of Maternal Instinct.
Topics: Crime, Netflix, True Crime, Death Row
Brenna Cooper