The Texas woman known for a shocking murder case highlighted in a recent Netflix true-crime documentary has reportedly trivialized the killing of her pregnant friend, referring to it as merely “one of those horrible things.”
Taylor Parker, currently on death row for the murder of Reagan Simmons-Hancock in 2020, expressed her frustrations about life in prison during phone calls with her mother. She lamented the lack of makeup allowed in court and shared her sadness over not being able to speak to her children, as revealed in previously unpublished reports.
In conversations from 2021 to 2022, Parker told her mother, Shona Prior, “Mom, they’d accuse me of catching a fly if they could. That’s literally where we’re at.”
She went on to describe how another inmate faced what she believed were unjust accusations, implying it was about making the authorities look good, stating, “They will do anything.”
Prior responded with some tough love, saying, “I understand what you’re saying, but you need to stop thinking about it.” She pointed out that Parker had committed an atrocity, and consequences would follow.
In an emotional moment, Parker cried and apologized, but her mother remained unwavering. “I know you haven’t thought about the consequences of your actions,” she said. When Parker mentioned missing her son, Prior retorted, “That’s true. I hate to say it, but if I had thought about my kids, maybe I wouldn’t be in this position.”
Parker, who is now 33, brutally killed Simmons-Hancock by striking her with a hammer and stabbing her over a hundred times. She removed the baby from the victim’s womb using a scalpel after faking a pregnancy for months, telling her partner she was going to the hospital. After the murder, she was apprehended while transporting the dead baby to an Oklahoma hospital.
She was incarcerated at the Bi-State Detention Center, a maximum-security facility in Texarkana, prior to her trial. Parker, one of only seven women on death row in Texas, complained about her constant cell lights and not being able to wear makeup for her court appearances. Her mother seemed somewhat sympathetic during these makeup complaints.
Parker also raised concerns about what she perceived as discrimination against her, emphasizing that looking like a “homeless criminal” wouldn’t work in her favor during the trial.
Parker, labeled an “evil flesh demon” by the victim’s grieving mother, received a death sentence in November 2022, with a jury taking less than two hours to deliberate. Prosecutors maintained that Parker’s elaborate ruse of a pregnancy was meant to prevent her partner, Wade Griffin, from leaving her. After a hysterectomy made her unable to conceive, Parker pretended to be pregnant, fabricated ultrasound images, posted about her false pregnancy online, and even hosted a fake gender reveal party.
Dustin Estes, a special agent with the Texas Department of Public Safety, revealed that Parker had researched how to deliver and care for babies by watching YouTube videos. She received her death sentence shortly before the Netflix documentary “Maternal Instinct” debuted. The Supreme Court later declined to reconsider her conviction and sentence without explanation.
