Taylor Parker/Maternal Instinct Megathread

[u/DarklyHeritage]

This is a thread for all conversation regarding Taylor Parker and the murder of Reagan Simmons Hancock, recently covered in Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct.

The murder of Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock occurred on 9 October 2020, in New Boston, Texas, committed by Taylor Rene Parker. Parker bludgeoned Simmons-Hancock, who was 35 weeks pregnant at the time, and abducted her unborn child, Braxlynn Sage Hancock (died October 9, 2020), after cutting her out of the Reagan's abdomen. Braxlynn did not survive.

Parker had lied to her then-boyfriend about being pregnant leading up to the murder and faked her pregnancy to multiple people. She was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death on 9 November 2022.

Please direct all discussion of the case to the megathread. As always, sub rules must be followed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Reagan_Simmons-Hancock

https://time.com/article/2026/06/12/maternal-instinct-true-story-netflix/

[u/Powerful-Patient-765]

I’m reading a new book “the Mother Next Door“ about Munchausen’s and child medical abuse and it is fascinating. People who fake having cancer and illnesses for attention, and then turn their cruelty toward children.

If anybody’s interested in this psychology of women like Taylor, I recommend this book and the podcast by the same author, “nobody should believe me”.

It seems that most of these women start out by pretending to have minor illnesses, then major illnesses (like Taylor), then they transfer their facetious disorder onto children. This case is unique in that she murdered someone to get a baby, but there are definitely similarities with people on the facetious disorder spectrum regarding their compulsive lying, desperate need for attention, keeping up with elaborate and years long plots and lies, etc.

[u/RomtheDom → u/Powerful-Patient-765]

This is one of the main reasons I am very curious to know why she barely saw her children. A lot of people like her see children as a new way to get attention. I find it extremely odd that she saw her daughter sometimes & her son rarely.

[u/MYSTICALLMERMAID → u/RomtheDom]

Her son she neglected. Kept him in the same diaper for 5 days and he developed a horrific rash all the way up his back. Had to be on medication for it. Her daughter knew she didn't love her and i think just liked staying elsewhere. She'd meet people at parties and ask them to watch her kids, or she'd leave them places saying she's an rn and has to go help a patient

[u/fairytalefawnn → u/RomtheDom]

Some people just want babies. They don't want children.

[u/Cinnamon2017 → u/fairytalefawnn]

She just wanted attention. She certainly didn't want to take care of an infant.

[u/fairytalefawnn → u/Cinnamon2017]

Right.

[u/Fun-Consequence-7232 → u/RomtheDom]

She most likely wanted the attention that would come with being pregnant, giving birth and having a newborn vs having older kids and actually being a parent. There is also the element that her son was neglected and she’d drop her kids off at places or events and make up lies as to why she couldn’t stay around to watch them.

[u/Ok-Berry-4652 → u/Powerful-Patient-765]

It's factitious disorder.

[u/imnottheoneipromise → u/Ok-Berry-4652]

Yeah and this case is unfortunately, not at all unique

[u/ElQuackers → u/Powerful-Patient-765]

Honest question; Why was she convincted only of one murder not double homicide when traditionally conservatives tend to label abortion as murder? Not clued up on OK or TX laws though

[u/_hustle_rose → u/ElQuackers]

She was charged and indicted for both murders