Heartbreaking reason why Reagan Simmons-Hancock befriended her killer who cut baby out of her womb

Warning: This article contains graphic content and descriptions of crime that some readers may find distressing.

On 9 October, 2020, Taylor Parker murdered her friend Reagan Simmons-Hancock and cut the pregnant woman's unborn child from her body before fleeing the scene.

She was then pulled over by police for erratic driving and claimed that the foetus she had in her lap was her child and she was giving birth.

When she was taken to hospital doctors found no evidence she had recently experienced childbirth, and Reagan's body was found at her home by her parents, with a family friend finding the woman's young daughter hiding upstairs.

Taylor Parker, who had faked her own pregnancy, was sentenced to death and is currently incarcerated on death row, with her story the subject of new Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct.

According to People, Reagan had befriended the woman who would murder her after she'd been the wedding photographer for her marriage to her husband Homer Hancock.

Taylor Parker became friends with Reagan Simmons-Hancock through being photographer at her wedding (Idabel Jail)

They'd tied the knot in September 2019, with Parker having been hired to take the pictures for their engagement and the wedding.

"She said one of her friends had recommended her and she was trying to stay budget-friendly, so this person was ideal for that, and her name was Taylor Parker," Reagan's mum Jessica Brookes said in the documentary.

"Very polite young lady. The moments she captured of Reagan and the wedding were absolutely beautiful.”

Reagan's mum said it seemed like Parker 'was just having a hard time', and that her daughter decided to 'include her' in more of the ceremonies to help, inviting the photographer to spend time with everyone after the reception.

Her younger sister Emily Shirey said that Reagan helped Parker feel 'almost felt like she's a bridesmaid at one point' because she was with them so much.

From there they developed a friendship which ended when Parker murdered Reagan Simmons-Hancock in her home and stole her unborn baby.

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

Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct is released.