Horrifying moment mother found her daughter stabbed to death by woman who stole her baby
A new Netflix documentary contains a harrowing 911 call from moments after a mother found her daughter dead in her home.
Netflix’s Maternal Instinct is a distressing watch as is, with the true crime documentary focusing on a woman who lied about being pregnant to her husband for months on end.
Called Taylor Parker, this Texas woman went as far as to buy a silicone belly to pretend to be pregnant, also faking that she had money from a supposed multi-million dollar inheritance.
Warning: This article contains graphic content and descriptions of crime that some readers may find distressing.
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The documentary takes a horrific turn however when it turns out that Parker not only faked being pregnant, but murdered a pregnant woman Reagan Simmons-Hancock in order to steal the baby in her womb. She eventually was given the death penalty for this and remains on death row to this day.
The scene of the crime was horrendous, with prosecutors characterising Parker as having ‘slaughtered’ Reagan.
Parker was found by police after being spotted driving erratically on the way to hospital with the deceased fetus stolen from Reagan sitting on her lap.
Whilst she was being taken to hospital for more questions, with a doctor finding that she had no signs she had given birth, Reagan’s body was found by her mother Jessica Brooks.
The story of how she was found is recounted in Maternal Instinct by Jessica along with Reagan’s step-dad, Marcus Brooks, who said that she hadn’t dropped her three year old daughter off at daycare.
When Jessica went to the house she said the garage door was open and she found a bloody footprint before coming across the murder scene.
Parker had stabbed her over 100 times in a vicious attack that took place all over the house.
Reagan’s mother is heard wailing in the 911 call in a scene that is hard to watch, before telling the dispatcher: “Help me, my daughter’s been murdered… she’s dead.”
Marcus recounted how he ‘lost it’ upon arriving, with his wife (Reagan’s mother Jessica) having begged him not to go in the house.
Chris Hughes, a friend of Marcus and Jessica’s, recounted how it was the ‘worst thing you can imagine, the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life’.
Chris ended up having to step over Reagan’s body before heading upstairs to try find her three year old daughter, eventually describing how she hid under the covers when she heard someone coming. Upon recognising the friend of her grandparents she jumped into his arms.
Reagan’s mother Jessica told the cops upon arrival that she was pregnant, but they discovered that she had performed a crude C-Section with a scalpel to steal her baby.
Parker was sentenced to the death penalty after being found guilty of murder and kidnapping, with a direct appeal failing last year in which she claimed that the kidnapping charge should not have applied because the baby was deceased when she took it.
Reagan’s mother, Jessica Brooks, said after she was sentenced to death: “We are just glad justice has been served, not only for our family, our friends, the prosecution team, our community.”
Her sister, Emily Simmons, said in the documentary that she hoped that Taylor prayed for forgiveness from God because 'Hell is too good for her'.
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 Instincts is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, TV and Film, Documentaries, Crime
Michael Slavin