A third indictment has been issued by a Bowie County grand jury for a woman accused of murdering a pregnant friend and removing her unborn infant from her body in October.
Taylor Rene Parker, aka Taylor Morton and Taylor Waycasey, is currently under indictment for capital murder in the mother’s death and kidnapping for taking her infant. The state announced in January that it will seek the death penalty.
A third indictment leveling a second charge of capital murder against Parker in the baby’s death was issued by a grand jury Thursday. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said at a hearing in January that she was unable to present the baby’s case in January because she had not yet received a final report from the medical examiner detailing findings on the infant, Braxlynn Sage Hancock.
Parker’s lead defense attorney, Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, entered pleas of not guilty in January to the initial capital murder and kidnapping charges.
28-year-old Parker allegedly attacked 21-year-old Reagan Michelle Simmons Hancock the morning of October 9 at her home in New Boston, Texas. A Texas state trooper pulled Parker over in DeKalb, Texas, not far from the Oklahoma border, just after 9:30 a.m. Parker was allegedly performing CPR on the infant girl in her lap and the umbilical cord appeared to be coming from her pants.
An ambulance transported Parker and the baby to McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, where the baby was pronounced dead and doctors determined Parker had not given birth.
The Texas trooper first made contact with Parker at 9:37 a.m. October 9. Approximately 10:20 a.m. the same morning, Hancock’s mother discovered her daughter’s body in the living room of the home Hancock shared with her husband and 3-year-old daughter in New Boston.
A large amount of blood was noted throughout the house on the floor, furniture, walls, appliances and other items. Hancock was found lying face down on the living room floor. After learning Hancock was approximately 34 weeks along, just six weeks away from a full-term pregnancy, paramedics were asked to check on the status of the unborn child.
When LifeNet personnel turned Hancock over, a large cut across her abdomen was revealed and it was determined the baby had been removed.
A small scalpel was found lodged in Hancock’s neck during an autopsy by a Dallas medical examiner which had not been visible to investigators at the crime scene.
Parker and Reagan Hancock were friends. Reagan Hancock posted a sonogram photo on a social media site with an early November due date in the months before her murder. The happy post included a name for the baby, Braxlynn Sage Hancock.
Parker allegedly convinced her boyfriend she was pregnant and often made social media posts supporting her claim. The boyfriend reported to police the couple held a gender reveal party in advance of Parker’s fictitious October 9 due date to celebrate the arrival of a baby that never truly existed. The boyfriend reported that he expected to meet Parker at a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, at noon October 9 for a planned, induced labor and delivery.
Parker’s jury will have three options when deciding if she is guilty of capital murder in Reagan Hancock’s murder: death by lethal injection, life without parole, or acquittal. If found guilty of kidnapping, Parker faces two to 20 years. If convicted of murder in the baby’s death, Parker faces five to 99 years or life in a Texas prison.
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