Texas woman faked pregnancy for months before killing friend, abducting her unborn baby

Reagan Simmons-Hancock trusted Taylor Parker completely. Parker was her friend, wedding lensman and a chap expectant mom. What Simmons-Hancock believed was a genuine relationship was really a cautiously crafted deception — 1 that would yet extremity successful her murder.

In 2022, Parker was convicted of superior execution for the 2020 sidesplitting of Simmons-Hancock, 21, and the abduction of her unborn daughter, who was chopped from her mother's womb and aboriginal died. The Texas pistillate is present the taxable of the Netflix true-crime documentary "Maternal Instinct," directed by Jessica Dimmock and enforcement produced by Liz Garbus.

"What Taylor did is simply a benignant of cold-hearted manipulation that could marque your humor tally cold," Dimmock told Fox News Digital. "This is not what we deliberation information looks like. God, she’s specified a maestro manipulator. She is truthful deceptive. It’s truly unfathomable the lengths that she volition spell to debar accountability. So overmuch of what happened conscionable ne'er needed to happen."

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The shocking lawsuit of Taylor Parker — who faked a gestation earlier murdering expectant parent Reagan Simmons-Hancock and cutting her unborn babe from her womb — is the absorption of Netflix's caller true-crime documentary, *Maternal Instinct," present streaming. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Simmons-Hancock, an Arkansas native, met Parker portion searching for an affordable lensman for her wedding to Homer Hancock. Recommended by a friend, Parker seemed similar the cleanable fit, and the 2 rapidly formed a friendship. Their enslaved grew adjacent stronger erstwhile Simmons-Hancock learned she was large with her 2nd child. Parker claimed she was expecting arsenic well, telling friends and household she was large with her 3rd child.

But Parker's gestation was a lie. Few radical — including her boyfriend, Wade Griffin — knew she had undergone a hysterectomy years earlier and could not person children.

Taylor Parker wore a silicone bump to bespeak she was pregnant. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"Taylor got unneurotic with Reagan nether the premise of bonding implicit their pregnancies, thing they were some ‘sharing’ astatine the time," Dimmock explained. "But of course, it’s not true. Only Reagan was pregnant. Only Reagan was going done her 3rd trimester."

Taylor Parker (left) and Reagan Simmons-Hancock (right) bonded implicit what appeared to beryllium shared pregnancies. But Parker's gestation was a lie. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Parker orchestrated an elaborate gestation hoax that fooled friends, household and her fellow for months. She wore a silicone babe bump, shared fake ultrasound images, staged aesculapian appointments and documented her expected increasing babe bump connected societal media. She besides held a gender-reveal party, posed for maternity photos and prepared a nursery, arsenic if she were expecting a babe girl.

Taylor Parker, who faked her ain gestation for 10 months, had researched however to fake a gestation and watched respective videos connected delivering babies preterm astatine 35 weeks, which was however acold on Reagan Simmons-Hancock was erstwhile she was killed. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Even arsenic cracks began to look successful her story, Parker doubled down connected the deception, fabricating aesculapian records and gestation updates to support the ruse alive. She adjacent utilized pandemic restrictions to her advantage, telling her fellow that COVID-era protocols allowed lone 1 idiosyncratic astatine prenatal appointments, preventing him from accompanying her.

The documentary suggested that Parker faked her gestation successful hopes it would support her and Griffin together.

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Taylor Parker and Wade Griffin met successful July 2019 astatine a section rodeo successful East Texas. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"From wherever I sit, I’m not definite that having a babe was adjacent the precedence arsenic overmuch arsenic it was having a babe to support her narration going," said Dimmock. "On the surface, that’s what it is. But underneath the surface, it’s deeper. Something is precise wrong. She is simply a compulsive liar. She manipulated radical agelong earlier this happened. There is thing precise breached and unsafe astir the mode she interacts with the world."

Dr. Christopher Mason described however it would person been intolerable for Taylor Parker to go pregnant. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"It’s rather wide beauteous aboriginal connected that determination were tons of reddish flags," Dimmock continued. "It’s rather wide that a batch of what she’s telling radical doesn’t adhd up. And yet, she has this quality to ever supply an mentation successful a mode that throws radical disconnected her trail. It’s her quality to perpetually propulsion curveballs that kept the charade going."

Those who knew Simmons-Hancock each described her arsenic "an exceptional mother" who was her sister’s champion friend, a loving woman and idiosyncratic who saw the bully successful people, said Dimmock.

Reagan Simmons-Hancock is seen present connected her wedding time with her sister Emily Shirey. Taylor Parker was the wedding photographer. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"Reagan was a wholly unsuspecting unfortunate successful each of this," said Dimmock. "It each came down similar a bolt of lightning. No 1 saw it coming."

On the greeting of Oct. 9, 2020, Simmons-Hancock, who was successful the last weeks of her pregnancy, was recovered dormant wrong her home. Authorities aboriginal said she suffered much than 100 sharp-force injuries and had her skull crushed with a hammer, the Associated Press reported. A scalpel was utilized to region her unborn baby, aboriginal identified arsenic Braxlynn Sage.

Emily Shirey described her sister Reagan Simmons-Hancock arsenic her champion friend. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Simmons-Hancock’s 3-year-old girl was inactive wrong the spot during the onslaught but wasn’t physically harmed.

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Jessica Brookes said that her daughter, Reagan Simmons-Hancock, was elated to invited a caller baby. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Later that aforesaid day, constabulary stopped Parker connected the roadworthy for driving erratically. Parker frantically told officers she had conscionable fixed commencement connected the broadside of the roadworthy and the newborn wasn’t breathing. Emergency responders rapidly transported Parker and the babe to a hospital. The babe was pronounced dormant connected arrival.

McKenzie Bright said she and Taylor Parker were nary longer friends by the clip Parker announced her pregnancy, adding that the quality came arsenic a surprise. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Medical unit rapidly determined that Parker showed nary signs of caller childbirth. They besides revealed that she did not person a uterus owed to a erstwhile hysterectomy. Pregnancy would person been biologically impossible. DNA investigating established that the babe was not hers. She was Simmons-Hancock’s daughter. Parker was arrested.

Dimmock said Simmons-Hancock’s household is inactive struggling with the murder.

Reagan Simmons-Hancock's stepfather, Marcus Brookes, explained however the killings profoundly impacted his family. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"They are an unthinkable household with an unthinkable web of enactment and emotion astir them," said Dimmock. "But what happened volition ne'er marque sense. They person an incredibly beardown faith, which I deliberation is simply a portion of what has helped them. But they made it clear, they would not privation this connected anyone."

In the documentary, Griffin admitted to grappling with guilt for not noticing immoderate signs of deceit sooner.

Codey Ott said that astatine first, Taylor Parker seemed similar an perfect lucifer for his friend, Wade Griffin. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"We person the interrogation video, and helium instantly calls retired the information that his household had been telling him that she couldn't beryllium pregnant, and yet helium chose to instrumentality up for Taylor," said Dimmock.

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Wade Griffin revealed successful the documentary that helium was uncomfortable with however rapidly his narration with Taylor Parker progressed. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"And successful sitting down with him, it’s truthful wide that helium ne'er wanted thing similar this to happen. He’s going to person to transportation the trauma of being portion of this for a agelong clip successful the eyes of his assemblage and, I think, successful his ain heart. But ultimately, helium was not the 1 who wounded Reagan. He was not the 1 who committed unit against her and helium wasn’t the 1 who was lying."

Parker faked her gestation for 10 months. Dimmock believes that Parker, who was disquieted astir losing Griffin, was "flailing and getting desperate."

Abby Bell said determination were reddish flags astir Taylor Parker's gestation that near friends perplexed. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"She was panicking," said Dimmock. "I don’t deliberation that Reagan was her intended unfortunate months out. I deliberation she was looking astatine a assortment of things. But the world is, what she was trying to bash is wholly insane, wholly unhinged. She was looking astatine everything from adoptions to faking location commencement certificates to stalking large women extracurricular of OB-GYN offices."

Taylor Parker and McKenzie Bright are seen present earlier their relationship came to an end. (Courtesy of Netflix)

"I ever deliberation Taylor is reasoning 1 measurement up and she’s ne'er reasoning 2 steps oregon much ahead. She knew what she was going to do, which was to get a babe successful her hands. But I don’t deliberation she had truly thought astir what the adjacent measurement was going to be. She intelligibly didn’t deliberation astir the repercussions for anyone else."

Parker’s attorneys argued that the babe was ne'er live and moved to disregard a kidnapping charge, which would person lowered the superior execution complaint to murder, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors said, however, that respective aesculapian professionals testified that the babe had a heartbeat erstwhile born. They besides recounted Parker’s actions starring up to the time Simmons-Hancock was killed.

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Taylor Parker was convicted of superior execution successful 2022. (Bi-State Detention Center via AP)

Parker, present 33, is presently connected Texas decease row.

"This is simply a communicative of an improbable perpetrator and an improbable unfortunate successful an improbable acceptable of circumstances," said Dimmock. "It’s a communicative astir information not ever looking similar what we are taught information looks like."