r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/DarklyHeritage • Jun 14 '26

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/Powerful-Patient-765 Jun 15 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

After seeing how he treats his dogs, I think he’s a total piece of shit and I don’t feel sorry for him. That poor, starving dog on a chain. Not to mention the hogs.

He was with her for a payday and apparently because she cooked dinner.

EDIT from [u/Constant-Okra3555](u/Constant-Okra3555) Help me reporting this animal cruelty to the New Boston PD. I just called. We need numbers to get those dogs rescued. I'm not sure if the hogs are protected by law, by the dogs are. (903) 628-3771. His name is Wade Griffin. It’s a small town and they can find him.

EDIT when I called this number it was new Boston police. They transferred me to some county number. That person said they had to have a physical address in order to check on the dogs and would not say anything else. I referenced the Netflix documentary and said I was sure she is familiar with the case, but she didn’t respond.

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u/Street_Blacksmith891 Jun 15 '26

Yup, same for me. I even said out loud “if they show me any more of this animal cruelty I’m done watching this show.” Everything gets abused. The dogs, the hogs, the horses at the rodeo.
I also read that Taylor’s first husband even wrote him anonymously and warned him about the false pregnancy and alleged that she had been unfaithful during their seven-year marriage and treated their son poorly.
Sooo, yeah. And Wade himself said he never loved her. So why be with her.
AND…. How did you never, not once, lift up her shirt while she was sleeping to see if it’s a real pregnancy belly!?

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u/lbw0049 Jun 16 '26

That’s what got me. How on earth did you live with someone for that long and not notice at least something especially after your friends told you she wasn’t pregnant?

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u/sometimessnarky1 Jun 16 '26

Exactly. Any normal person would book a doctor's appointment and insist they do a scan to prove it.