'If she does ask God for forgiveness, I pray that she means it. Because for a demon like Taylor… hell would be easy.'Those were the haunting words of Emily, the younger sister of 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock, who was brutally stabbed, her body cut open and her unborn baby stolen in a murder that continues to shock even seasoned true-crime followers.Reagan's killer was Taylor Parker, a woman she had once considered a friend. The pair met when Taylor worked as Reagan's wedding photographer, but behind the friendship lay a disturbing obsession and an increasingly elaborate web of lies.Desperate to convince her boyfriend she was pregnant, Taylor spent months fabricating a false reality.Her deception culminated in one of the most gruesome murders in recent Texas history.Now sitting on Texas' death row as its youngest female inmate, Taylor has once again become the focus of public attention following the release of Netflix's Maternal Instinct, which revisits the shocking crime and the sinister events that preceded it.Born in 1992, Taylor experienced a troubled childhood marked by alleged sexual assault and struggles with obesity.After dropping out of high school and becoming a mother at 17, she went on to have a second child in 2014 before undergoing a tubal ligation. Now sitting on Texas' death row as its youngest female inmate, Taylor (pictured) has once again become the focus of public attention Taylor pictured with Reagan, who she befriended while working as her wedding photographerThe following year, Taylor underwent surgery and was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and endometriosis after suffering from severe pelvic cramps.While she was under anaesthesia, her mother authorised a hysterectomy, leaving Taylor unable to have more children.Friends and family would later describe the procedure as a devastating blow that appeared to have a lasting impact on her, leading her to become obsessed with the idea of having another child.Over the next several years, Taylor's personal life continued to unravel. She divorced her first husband in 2017 and married Hunter Parker the following year.Despite her hysterectomy, she repeatedly sought friends willing to act as surrogates so she could have another child.Her second marriage ended in divorce in April 2019, and just weeks later, Taylor began dating Wade Griffin, a hog farmer she had met at a rodeo.Just a few months into their relationship, Taylor told Griffin she was pregnant - a claim which was impossible as her hysterectomy had left her unable to carry a child.Yet Taylor maintained the lie for months, using a silicone pregnancy belly and fake ultrasound images purchased online.She staged maternity photographs, hosted a gender reveal party and carefully controlled her interactions with Griffin to prevent him from discovering the truth.'During that summer, our time together was very limited,' Griffin recalled in the documentary. 'She never hardly ever wanted me to see her naked or anything because she said she was insecure because of her stretch marks. We never really did anything at all, pretty much.'As the fake pregnancy progressed, suspicions began to spread throughout the small Texas community.One of the first people to recognise something was wrong was Dr Christopher Mason, the obstetrician who had previously performed Taylor's tubal ligation and knew she had later undergone a hysterectomy.After seeing social media posts claiming she was pregnant, he became concerned enough to warn hospital staff to take extra precautions around newborn babies.'There was no indication that a crime was going to be committed,' he later testified. 'We just wanted to make sure our babies were going to be safe in our hospital.'Meanwhile, both Tommy Wacasey and Hunter Parker, Taylor's first and second husbands, attempted to warn Griffin and his family after learning she was claiming to be pregnant.A text sent anonymously to Griffin by Wacasey read: 'I'm reaching out to you because I feel like it's the ethical thing to do. In 2015 Taylor had a hysterectomy. She isn't pregnant. She can't get pregnant. She's a con artist and is lying to keep you around.'I don't do drama, not at all. But because I know for a fact she isn't pregnant and is running out of time, I had to reach out. Please be careful. She has lied about so much for so long, she has herself in so deep she can't get out. I'm concerned how far she might go with this.'Friends also became suspicious after noticing inconsistencies in the medical documents Taylor provided as proof.One of those friends, Stephanie Ott, said her doubts intensified after Taylor sent her paperwork supposedly confirming the baby's gender. The document carried a date from 2016. Taylor staged maternity photographs and hosted a gender reveal party. Pictured: Griffin (L) and Taylor (R) Taylor maintained the lie for months, using a silicone pregnancy belly and fake ultrasound images purchased onlineWhen questioned, Taylor claimed there were over 200 misprints in the lab that day, so they were going to send a new one, but that the gender was right.Becoming increasingly suspicious, Ott contacted Taylor's clinic herself and was told they did not issue documents in that format.Though the employee, who knew of Taylor's hysterectomy, couldn't reveal details of her health records, Ott said she told her to 'just go with your gut.'Eventually, Ott contacted one of Taylor's former friends, McKenzie Bright, who revealed that Taylor had undergone the sterilisation years earlier.'I mean, the word got out,' Bright later said. 'All the people that knew started - you know within their own inner circles - going, "she can't be pregnant".'Despite the growing rumours, Griffin remained convinced Taylor was telling the truth. As doubts mounted, his mother Connie began voicing her own concerns, but Taylor was quick to undermine them, telling her boyfriend she didn't think his mother wanted them to be happy together.During these months, Taylor had not only lied about her pregnancy but also about her family and the wealth she supposedly had.Taylor, who had only ever worked at a staffing agency and a gynecology clinic, said she was heir to the Blackburn syrup fortune and tried to purchase a $4.7million estate.She also turned Griffin against her own family, convincing him that her mother was malicious, withholding money from her and spreading false stories throughout the community about her pregnancy. At the same time, Taylor had developed a friendship with Reagan Simmons-Hancock, a 21-year-old mother who was eagerly awaiting the birth of her second child.The pair first met when Taylor was hired to photograph Reagan's engagement party and wedding. Over time, the two women grew close, with Reagan believing they were both expecting baby girls. According to Reagan's mother, Taylor became increasingly interested in her daughter after learning she was carrying a girl.While many people in Taylor's life questioned her claims of pregnancy, Reagan remained supportive and was one of the few people who appeared to trust Taylor completely.By September of 2020, Taylor's deception was nearing its breaking point. For months, she had convinced Griffin, his family and much of the local community that she was expecting a baby girl. Yet the date she had repeatedly claimed as her due date was fast approaching, and there was no real pregnancy to conceal.Griffin's mother Connie later said the family had no idea what Taylor was going to do next and believed 'at some point she's going to have to fake a miscarriage'.As the pressure mounted, Taylor began searching online for pregnant women, focusing her attention on maternity consignment stores and pregnancy clinics in the area.In the days leading up to Reagan's murder, prosecutors said her internet searches became even more disturbing.Testimony revealed that Taylor watched videos explaining how to perform a C-section. Then, on the day of the killing, she viewed an instructional medical video demonstrating how to conduct a physical examination on a premature infant born at 35 weeks' gestation - the exact gestational age of her victim's baby.On October 9, 2020, Taylor drove to Reagan's home in New Boston, Texas, where Reagan was alone with her three-year-old daughter. Taylor had developed a friendship with Reagan, a 21-year-old mother who was eagerly awaiting the birth of her second child. Pictured: Taylor (L) and Reagan (R) Reagan pictured with her husband Homer and their three-year-old daughter Kynlee Reagan and her sister Emily on her wedding day where Taylor was the photographerTaylor violently assaulted Reagan, with evidence later showing that she was attacked throughout the house.Investigators found blood in multiple locations, indicating the expectant mother desperately tried to move through the home as she fought for her life.Taylor inflicted both blunt force and sharp force injuries before carrying out a crude C-section using a scalpel she had brought with her.An autopsy later revealed that Reagan suffered 113 sharp force injuries, including 15 stab wounds and 98 incised wounds, as well as 39 blunt force injuries.Two knife wounds pierced her jugular vein and some cuts were so deep they reached the bone. The blunt force trauma, believed to have been inflicted with a hammer, left Reagan with a broken nose and five skull fractures.Medical examiner Dr Melinda Flores testified that the cause of death was 'homicide from traumatic extraction from the uterus with both sharp and blunt force injuries'.A separate examination determined that her unborn child - Braxlynn Sage - also died as a result of the violent extraction from her mother's womb.The medical examiner found bruising on the baby's scalp and umbilical cord, indicating that some of the blows delivered to Reagan's abdomen had also struck Braxlynn.Reagan's three-year-old daughter was later discovered unharmed, hiding in a back bedroom by family members who arrived at the scene.Having extracted the unborn baby from Reagan's womb, Taylor fled the state and headed towards Oklahoma.While travelling through De Kalb, Texas, she was stopped by a Texas Highway Patrol trooper who noticed her driving erratically.Taylor claimed she had given birth in her car and told the officer the baby was not breathing. The trooper also noticed an umbilical cord hanging down her trousers.Believing he was dealing with a medical emergency, the officer arranged for Taylor and the baby to be taken via ambulance to a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma.Upon arrival at the hospital, the baby was pronounced dead. Around the same time, Reagan's body was discovered in Texas, prompting hospital staff and investigators to rapidly connect the two cases and begin unravelling Taylor's story. Hospital staff became suspicious when she refused to undergo a vaginal examination. Tests soon confirmed that Taylor had not been pregnant and no longer had a uterus.Nearly two hours of disturbing bodycam footage show Oklahoma detectives arriving at the hospital and questioning Taylor, who is in a hospital bed, about the stolen baby.Initially, Taylor denied the crime, claiming she was pregnant and the baby was hers. However, after a doctor performed a vaginal exam confirming the lie, she began to open up.The interrogation footage showed Taylor repeatedly changing her story, from claiming she gave birth on the roadside to alleging a physical fight with Reagan.She said that she and Reagan fought and hit each other, and that Reagan, who was pregnant, grabbed a knife and fell on it.Taylor then claimed Reagan begged her to perform a C-section to save the baby as she was dying.Following her confession, Taylor was arrested, initiating two years of legal proceedings that exposed gruesome details of her planned murder of Raegan. Taylor claimed she had given birth in her car and told the officer the baby was not breathing Taylor was covered in blood when she was stopped by a Texas Highway Patrol trooper Nearly two hours of disturbing bodycam footage show Oklahoma detectives arriving at the hospital and questioning Taylor, who is in a hospital bed, about the stolen babyA month after her arrest and following weeks of interrogation, Taylor was charged with capital murder and booked into the Bowie County jail.In January 2021, prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty due to the heinous and pre-meditated nature of the crime and because Taylor showed no remorse. Her trial began in September of 2022.During her opening statements, Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp argued that Taylor had a motive for murder. Crisp stated that before the crime, Taylor ran a sophisticated scheme to convince her boyfriend and others she was pregnant, even though a prior hysterectomy made it impossible. Jurors were shown photos from the crime scene, including a bloody hair print on the refrigerator, a large blood stain on the edge of the couch and clumps of what appeared to be Reagan's blonde hair covered in blood. The wall near where Reagan's body was found was splattered with blood going in all directions and dripping down, indicating a significant beating took place there.Dallas County Medical Examiner Dr Melinda Flores testified to her findings that Reagan died from sharp force injuries and blunt force injuries but concluded that they could not rule out the possibility that ligature strangulation contributed to her death.Reagan's hands showed extensive defensive wounds, including bruises, stab wounds, scrapes and cuts on her fingers and palms. One of her fingers was dislocated, and the tip of another was almost cut off. The jury was also presented with Taylor's internet search activity on maternity stores and women's health clinics, which intensified in the weeks leading up to the murders in what prosecutors said showed a clear pattern of planning and intent.In one of the trial's most heartbreaking moments, Reagan's mother took the stand to describe the moment she found her daughter's mutilated body on October 9, 2020. When Jessica Brookes arrived to check on her daughter, she noticed streaks of blood in the driveway. She had gone to the house because her son-in-law, Homer, grew worried when Reagan stopped replying to his messages.Upon entering the house she was confronted with the horrific murder scene. Her daughter was on the floor, face down, her blonde hair stained red with blood.Testifying on the stand, Brookes said: 'I think I screamed, because I didn't know what to do, "what's going on..."'She then called 911, screaming and wailing: 'Somebody's murdered my baby! She's dead! There's blood everywhere! Somebody needs to come!'Her husband and a family friend rushed to the house, where they located Reagan's three-year-old daughter Kynlee unharmed, but hiding under a blanket in her bed.Wade Griffin's mother also testified at the trial, detailing the months of manipulation and deceit Taylor used to spin a web of lies leading up to the murder. Over nearly three hours of testimony, Connie Griffin recounted how Taylor quickly moved into Wade's life, managing his finances and his home.Taylor boasted to their family that she was to inherit millions from her grandfather, who owned oil wells. She created a fake email account with the name Mandy Body, leading Griffin to believe it was Taylor's mother, Shona. Prosecutors said Taylor fabricated 'Mandy Body' to feed Griffin information that seemed to back her claims.Connie explained that her son was convinced Taylor was pregnant. Although he questioned why Taylor wasn't showing more - even asking if it was due to a 'tummy tuck' - Connie clarified that was not the case. She tried to explain how pregnancy works, but Griffin remained completely convinced. The whole ordeal 'ruined' Connie's life, she said on the stand.After weeks of harrowing evidence and emotional testimony from loved ones, investigators and medical experts, the jury finally delivered its verdict - Taylor was found guilty of capital murder. A month later, on November 9, 2022, she was sentenced to death by the trial court upon the jury's unanimous recommendation for capital punishment.Several subsequent appeals in 2025 and 2026 were denied, including by the Supreme Court in May of this year.Taylor Parker is now the youngest woman and one of only seven female convicts on death row in Texas.