A public defender has sparked renewed debate over whether Taylor Parker should remain on death row after her 2022 conviction.
Interest in Parker’s case picked up again after Netflix released the true-crime documentary Maternal Instinct on June 12, 2026, revisiting the events that led to the killing of Reagan Simmons-Hancock in October 2020.
At the time, Parker was in a relationship with Wade Griffin and had convinced him, his relatives, and others around them that she was expecting a baby.
That claim was false. Parker had previously undergone a hysterectomy, meaning she could not become pregnant, but she still spent months trying to sustain the deception. When her supposed ‘due date’ came and went, the pressure around the lie intensified.
According to the case, Parker maintained the fake pregnancy for around 10 months before going to see her friend Reagan on October 9, 2020. Reagan was genuinely pregnant at the time.
Prosecutors said Parker killed the 21-year-old and removed her unborn baby from her womb. Neither Reagan nor the child survived.
Parker then went to a hospital and attempted to claim the baby as her own. Medical staff found no evidence that she had recently given birth, and police were contacted.
She was later arrested and charged with murder. In 2022, Parker received a death sentence and has remained on death row since then.
As of June 27, 2026, no execution date has been scheduled.
After the documentary came out, viral public defender Stephanie raised the issue with her 282,000 TikTok followers, asking whether they believed Parker merited the death penalty.
“So now that we’ve all watched the Maternal Instinct documentary, here’s my question for you. Did she deserve the death penalty or not?
“Now, her appeals process has been affirmed. The death penalty has been affirmed. Her conviction has been affirmed. So it really isn’t so much debatable, really. But personally, do you think she deserved the death penalty or not?”
“Hearing all of the stuff that was going on behind the scenes from the people that were involved was super interesting to me.”
Stephanie said one of the most striking details in the documentary was that officials feared Parker might try to take a baby, leading hospitals to go on ‘pink alert’ — a warning used when there is a risk of child abduction or when a child is already missing.
The question divided viewers in the comments, with some saying Parker ‘absolutely’ deserved the sentence while others said they oppose capital punishment in every circumstance.
“I don’t believe in the death penalty. I am a family member of a murder victim. I don’t want someone’s family to feel what I feel.”
“I don’t believe in the death penalty under any circumstances,”
“Yes she did! Holy moly I’ve been following this case since it happened.”
The documentary lays out a detailed timeline of the case. Parker, a mother of two and wedding photographer, had her tubes tied after developing pre-eclampsia during a previous pregnancy, a serious condition that can cause dangerously high blood pressure.
Later, after experiencing bleeding, she visited a doctor and was told she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy. She then underwent a hysterectomy, permanently ending her ability to have children.
After two divorces, Parker began dating hog trapper Wade Griffin, whom she met at a rodeo. She also falsely told him she was set to inherit a $6 million estate.
Jessica Brookes hired Parker to photograph her daughter Reagan Hancock’s wedding to longtime partner Homer Hancock. Parker had also handled the couple’s engagement photos.
Parker eventually told Griffin she was pregnant, despite him not knowing about the hysterectomy. To keep up appearances, she used a fake baby bump, posed for maternity pictures, and even held a gender reveal party, while claiming the baby was due in September.
Hospital employees involved in Parker’s earlier care were said to be ‘very confused’ by her pregnancy posts online, though privacy laws prevented them from speaking publicly about it.
Meanwhile, Hancock told her mother Jessica that she was expecting her second child. Jessica later said Parker’s contact with Reagan increased after Parker learned Reagan was pregnant with a girl.
When Parker’s claimed ‘due date’ passed, she told Griffin she would need to be induced or have a c-section.
Investigators said Parker watched a video explaining how to deliver a baby pre-term at 35 weeks, which matched the stage of Hancock’s pregnancy. Parker told Griffin she was traveling to Idabel, Oklahoma, to be induced. Instead, she went to Hancock’s home, where prosecutors said she killed her and removed her unborn daughter, Braxlynn Sage, from her womb. Hancock’s three-year-old daughter was later found safe inside the house.
Not long after, Parker was stopped by a Texas State Trooper because of erratic driving. As the trooper approached, she called emergency services asking for an ambulance.
“I’m starting to have my baby.”
The trooper found Parker covered in dried blood and holding Hancock’s dead baby, with the umbilical cord still attached.
She was taken to a hospital, where doctors quickly determined that she had not given birth. She was arrested that same day.
A grand jury later indicted Parker on charges of capital murder and kidnapping.
She was ultimately convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. After the sentence was handed down, Jessica said a ‘heavy burden has been lifted’.
In November 2025, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Parker’s conviction and death sentence. In early 2026, her lawyers sought extra time to file a petition for review with the U.S. Supreme Court, and the court later declined to take up the case in May 2026, leaving the sentence in place.
She remains on death row, and no execution date has been scheduled.
Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct was released on June 12, 2026.