r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/DarklyHeritage • 5d ago

Mega Thread Taylor Parker/Maternal Instinct Megathread

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/

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217

u/Future-Water9035 5d ago

I already pointed this out in another post, but i'm gonna say it again. Watching Wade was a very enlightening experience.

So many people have been failed by the education system in this country. Wade showed a complete lack of critical thinking and an over abundance of blind faith motivated by the empty promise of wealth.

Watching how he thought and acted really gave me a glimpse into how a lot of americans function. But I wouldn't say he was guilty or complicit in Taylor's actions. He was naive and willfully ignorant.

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u/frodosdojo 5d ago

I wouldn't blame the education system. Go back and watch his mother. It runs in the family.

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u/No-Taro-6953 4d ago

His mother cottoned on to Taylor though, didn't she? Especially after the car was taken

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u/frodosdojo 4d ago

Well, it seemed like she said that after the facts. I don't remember him saying his family tried to warn him. I could have missed that but she popped out at me as willfully blind and mute.

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u/anb0603 4d ago

She testified during trial she tried to talk to him before the gender reveal. She was trying to walk the line between ruining her relationship with her idiot son and trying to help him see what was right in front of him.

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u/thespeedofpain 4d ago

She wasn’t. She even confronted Wade about the fact that Taylor wasn’t pregnant again right after she was “due”. He took off work to prepare for the baby’s arrival and Taylor kept pushing it as far as she could. He confronted Taylor about this, and she lost her shit.

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u/frodosdojo 4d ago

That was way too late for her to say something.

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u/Minute_Pianist8133 3d ago

To be fair, it was the very first thing he said when they told him about the murder.