Netflix’s June 2026 documentary Maternal Instinct has reignited public interest in one of the most disturbing crimes in recent Texas history: the 2020 killing of pregnant 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock by her friend Taylor Parker, who cut the victim’s unborn baby from her womb and tried to pass the child off as her own.
Now, viewers are asking what comes next for Parker, who sits on death row awaiting her execution. Everything to know about the case and her execution, below.
Taylor Parker’s Execution Date Has Not Yet Been Scheduled
Parker is currently in custody at the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, awaiting capital punishment. A date for her execution has not yet been set. The sole method of execution in Texas is lethal injection.
Parker was convicted of capital murder and kidnapping in October 2022, and sentenced to death one month later in November 2022. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed her conviction and sentence in 2025. In May 2026, the Supreme Court declined to review her case an additional time, exhausting a major avenue of appeal.
As of June 2026, Parker is the youngest woman on death row in the state of Texas at age 33.
What Taylor Parker Did to Reagan Simmons-Hancock
Parker’s crime, committed on October 9, 2020, was the culmination of an elaborate web of lies that began with a fake pregnancy.
Shortly after Parker moved to a small town in East Texas, she fell for local hog trapper Wade Griffin. Within months of their relationship, Parker — who already had two children from two previous relationships — claimed she was pregnant with Wade’s first baby. What Griffin didn’t know was that Parker had previously undergone a hysterectomy in 2015 and was unable to have more children.
As her supposed September 22, 2020, due date neared, those around her began asking questions. Simmons-Hancock, who met Parker when she worked as her wedding photographer in 2019, was pregnant at the same time Parker claimed she was expecting with Simmons-Hancock being due in November 2020 with a baby girl. The two grew close, and on October 9, 2020, they planned a girls’ day together when Simmons-Hancock was 35 weeks pregnant.
On that day, Parker strangled and stabbed Simmons-Hancock at her home before performing a C-section to remove the unborn child with the umbilical cord and placenta still intact. Parker then fled the scene with the newborn.
While driving erratically, she called 911 from a highway and claimed she had just given birth on the side of the road, but that the baby wasn’t breathing. At the same time, state troopers pulled Parker over, where they found her performing CPR on the newborn. She told them she had been on her way to meet Griffin at a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma.
Once she arrived at McCurtain Memorial Hospital, doctors found no evidence that Parker had given birth and eventually learned she previously had a hysterectomy. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Chad Dansby began interviewing her at the hospital, and she was ultimately linked to Simmons-Hancock and her baby’s death.
Parker was arrested that same day.
Taylor Parker Has Spoken Candidly About Her Crime
In February 2025, Parker spoke to The New Yorker about the case and admitted she initially didn’t believe the charges.
“I told myself, ‘You didn’t do what they said. It’s lies,’” she said at the time. “My realization came when I had to face the autopsy photos.”
Parker also opened up about her life behind bars and said she’s come to terms with the situation.
“It’s the hardest thing to admit, but I do not believe in going home for myself. My place is here,” she said. “I stand firm on the belief you do not deserve to have something you took from another. That’s part of the acknowledgment and acceptance process on the road to redemption.”
McCurtain Memorial Hospital Asks ‘Maternal Instinct’ Viewers Not to Visit
One week after Maternal Instinct was released, McCurtain Memorial Hospital — where Parker reported after claiming she had given birth — issued a statement asking Netflix viewers not to visit.
“While the events portrayed were real and remain a matter of public record, they also represent one of the most painful chapters in the lives of the victim’s family, the New Boston community, and the healthcare professionals who responded that day,” a rep for the hospital said in a statement on June 17, 2026, per KOCO. “For many, the emotional impact of this tragedy has never fully faded.”
The statement noted it was “not a story of entertainment or a destination for tourism. It is a story of devastating loss.”
The hospital continued, “Out of respect for those affected, including the family, our staff, and the community, McCurtain Memorial Hospital will not participate in interviews, photo opportunities, tours, or discussions related to these events. Today, we remember the mother and child whose lives were taken, and we continue to hold their loved ones in our thoughts. We also acknowledge the lasting impact this tragedy had on the first responders, nurses, physicians, and hospital staff who worked tirelessly in its aftermath.”
The hospital concluded by saying the “New Boston community will forever carry the scars of this loss, and many members of our team continue to carry those memories as well.”
McCurtain Memorial Hospital did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment. However, it did say in the initial statement that they have no additional comments to make regarding the documentary and case as of this time.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
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