Taylor Rene Parker from Texas was found guilty in 2020 of cutting a pregnant woman’s stomach open and stealing her baby. Both the woman and the baby died soon after. A jury found Parker guilty of murder and death by murder in October 2022. She is now facing the death penalty.
It all started when Taylor Rene Parker told her boyfriend she was pregnant. Of course, Parker wasn’t pregnant. Instead, she was planning something much worse. 29-year-old Taylor Rene Parker became friends with a pregnant 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock just to steal her baby.
In her plot, Taylor lied about being pregnant with fake pregnancy bump. She had a gender-reveal party and even posted a fake ultrasound report on social media.
Parker cut a hole in the woman’s stomach, took the baby, and then drove away. The woman called 911, and later, Parker was found with the baby still attached to the umbilical cord in her car at a traffic stop.
According to the affidavit, the baby’s umbilical cord was still attached, and it looked like the baby was coming out of the woman’s pants, as if she had just given birth. Parker and the baby were taken to the hospital, where Parker admitted that she had stolen the baby. The baby died not long after that.
Defense Team Argues Against Capital Murder for Taylor Rene Parker
During the three weeks of testimony, Parker’s lawyers tried to say that their client couldn’t be charged with capital murder because you can’t kidnap an unborn child, which I know is a stretch. Medical professionals said that the baby’s heart was beating when it was taken.
Parker’s defence team tried to show that he wasn’t guilty, but the jury didn’t believe them. In the end, the 29-year-old was found guilty of capital murder. During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards told the jury the following:
“Taylor started cutting and slashing when she had the baby and Reagan was still alive. She can’t just abandon her. It wasn’t a quick end. She cut her over and over again. I guess Reagan couldn’t die fast enough for Taylor to get out of there and move on with her plans.”
During the attack, the victim also took several blows to the head, which crushed her skull into her brain. Taylor Rene Parker could get the death penalty right now, but she is more likely to get life in prison without the chance to get out. Either way, she will no longer be a part of society.
“We have laid out in detail what Parker did, why she did it, all the moving parts, and all the damage it caused. The best proof that the baby was born alive that the state of Texas has is that Taylor Parker said it wasn’t,” said Kelley Crisp, a prosecutor on Simmons-team. Hancock’s
We should be learning more about the sentencing of Taylor Rene Parker on October 12th, which is when the next phase of punishment is scheduled to begin.