As Netflix prepares to release Maternal Instinct on June 12, 2026, one question sits at the heart of the documentary. Why did Taylor Parker murder a woman she once called her friend? The answer begins years before the killing, with a secret Parker kept from everyone close to her.Reagan Simmons-Hancock was 21 years old when she was murdered in her own home in New Boston, Texas, in October 2020, which is explored in Netflix's Maternal Instinct. (X/@KUDALINGAM49671)A hysterectomy she never told anyone aboutParker became a mother at 17. She had a second child during her first marriage. Following complications from an ectopic pregnancy after a failed tubal ligation, she underwent a hysterectomy, leaving her unable to have more children.Parker created elaborate stories and false identities to convince her boyfriend, Wade Griffin, that she was pregnant. She wore a fake pregnancy belly, held a gender reveal party, and bought sonogram pictures off the internet as part of her scheme.Prosecutors said Parker's scheme was months in the making, driven by her desperation to hide the truth from Griffin that she could not have more children after her hysterectomy.The deception eventually ran out of road. The night before the murder, Parker had told Griffin she was going to be induced at a hospital in Mount Pleasant, Texas. A fire then mysteriously broke out at Griffin's home, and a bomb threat was called into the hospital the following day, giving Parker the excuse she needed to explain why the planned birth had to be delayed.Also Read | Who was Taylor Parker's boyfriend and where is he now? All on Wade Griffin amid Netflix's Maternal Instinct releaseParker targeted Reagan Hancock deliberatelyDuring the trial, it came out that Parker was searching for a pregnant woman. She ultimately settled on Reagan Simmons-Hancock, who was just weeks away from delivering a healthy child.Prosecutor Kelley Crisp reportedly told the court that Parker had researched pregnancies at 35 weeks online. "She watched all these videos, clicked on all these links, and they were all at 35 weeks," Crisp reportedly said.Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards told the jury in her closing argument, "In the past two weeks, the evidence has never been more clear. She's a liar, a manipulator, and now she's gonna be held accountable for it." On October 9, 2020, Parker stormed Simmons-Hancock’s home, where she attacked her with a hammer and knife before cutting her open and removing her unborn daughter.Parker was convicted of capital murder in October 2022 and sentenced to death the following month. She remains on death row in Texas. The Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct, directed by Jessica Dimmock, revisits the full story of the crime with the global premiere on June 12, 2026.