Taylor Parker trial: Shocking details emerge about womb raider who ripped out friend’s fetus after killing her
Warning: This content contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion is advised.
NEW BOSTON, TEXAS: A vile woman accused of murdering a pregnant woman and removing her unborn child from her body is now facing trial. On Wenesday, September 28, in the New Boston, Texas courtroom, Texas Ranger Joshua Mason took to the witness box and testified against Taylor Parker. Parker was questioned by Mason after her arrest and parts of the interviews were shared in the court.
Parker told the investigators that she went to the residence of Reagan Simmons Hancock after the pregnant woman became anxious about headaches and blackouts she was having. "I told her I would come over and could lay down for a few hours, and she said we needed to talk," Parker told Mason. She also alleged that Hancock did not want her to leave and later they got physical after the two got into a verbal altercation.
READ MORE
Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder: Man, 34, arrested on suspicion of 9-year-old girl’s fatal shooting
She also claimed that the duo started to punch each other and Parker removed the woman's unborn child from her womb with a scalpel at her request. Mason, however told Parker, during the interview, that medical examiners found the scalpel broken off in Hancock's neck. Prior to removing the unborn child with the scalpel, Hancock's skull was crushed with a hammer in her New Boston, Texas, home, according to a testimony from a doctor in court.
Parker said that when she left Hancock's home, she was still alive and breathing but she had no memory of stabbing her. However, prosecutors argued that Hancock had over 120 cuts and stab wounds on her body. Authorities said that Parker drove off with the baby in her lap, leaving behind the victim’s three-year-old daughter alone with her dying mother. Parker had stuck the child's umbilical cord in her pants, reportedly to make it look as if it was her baby.
She said "I wasn't in my right mind. I was freaking out," when asked why she did it. Parker had allegedly been looking for a target the day before Hancock's murder, the investigators said in the court. They claim that she staged a fake business trip several hours away to get her boyfriend out of town on the day of the murder. Parker viewed numerous YouTube videos on delivering and caring for babies,according to the testimony given by Special Agent Dustin Estes of the Texas Department of Public Safety. He said that she watched a video on the physical exam of an infant delivered pre-term at 35 weeks on the day of the killing. He further added that she Googled numerous times about pregnancy. “She watched all these videos, clicked on all these links, and they were all at 35 weeks,” prosecutor Kelley Crisp said.
Crisp said that she also posted about her fake pregnancy on social media while searching for a possible victim, adding "She is an actress, an actress of the highest order." “My opinion is Taylor Parker faked her pregnancy. ... She planned and carried out the murder of Reagan,” Estes said. His opinion was challenged by Jeff Harrelson, Parker’s attorney who said, "You can see somebody looked them up, but you don’t know why. You can have a theory.”
Hancock's baby was taken to a hospital after Parker's arrest and a trooper reportedly found the placenta in her car. The unborn female child unfortunately did not survive. If convicted, Parker can face a death penalty on the charge of capital murder.