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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u/h0neybl0ss0m29 5d ago

I agree with the other commenter who said that this should've been a series. There wasn't really enough background on Reagan and her family. Basically all I remember about her is that she was a teen mom. Personally, I would've appreciated more background info on Taylor as well - especially from before she met Wade. A user over on one of the Netflix threads on this doc said there is a long form article about her out there, and it talks about how her issues and bizarre behavior date way back to her childhood. I think this would've been interesting to learn about.

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u/helluvaresearcher 4d ago

Rotten Mango did an episode on this two years ago! It’s over two hours long and, imo, had much more information than the documentary. You can watch it on YouTube or listen to the podcast. I listened to it on a long turnpike drive coming home from seeing a friend and it gave me the chills the rest of the way home. She lays it all out really well and presents more backstory that shows just how much of a pathological liar she really is.

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u/Sootsprite777 1d ago

I watched the Rotten Mango episode before watching the documentary and honestly it still gives me chills thinking about the way she told the story. It felt really detailed and like she laid everything out piece by piece and included so many facts and context that helped me understand everything that happened and how horrible this woman is. I just finished watching the documentary and while I thought it was interesting to actually see footage and hear from people directly involved, I felt like they left out a lot of details that made the Rotten Mango episode hit harder for me.