In October of twenty twenty, a young pregnant mother was found murdered in her texts home, her unborn baby cut from her womb and taken. Just hours later, Taylor Parker was pulled over miles away, claiming she had just given birth on the roadside. But Taylor wasn't a new mother. She was a woman desperate to keep up a lie that had spiraled into bloodshed. This is the chilling story of deception, obsession, and one of the most shocking crimes
in recent memory. This is the story of Reagan and Braxlin Hancock.
My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast.
The following podcast material more mature audience listener. How did I sound on that intro?
Pretty good?
Did I okay? Things sound different to me. I got my new headphones and it's not I'm not used to it. Yeah, it's different.
You got some fancy new gear over there, Look at you.
I don't know if there's fancy as my last ones.
She doesn't like them as much. I don't too bad.
Yeah, I really like my other ones. I had them for a long time and they don't make those ones anymore. So I had to go with a different style or a different you know, make model, and.
That does suck. So many companies do that. They have a good product or good item and then they just change it.
Yeah you gotta, I don't know, it's consumerism, right, just try and get people to get the newest the l that's true.
That's true.
I don't know. Maybe I should have like scouted eBay to see if I could have found a pair or something like that.
Oh yeah, they might have had them on there. Mine. I got new ones too, because I have like a ticking I can think. I can't remember if we talked about this in apprecio or apps or are regular episodes.
I think it was a regular episode.
We and so I have like some like tapping ticking in my ear and it's quite quite annoying. But we got new ones for me too, But it didn't come with a chord, so I'm like, okay.
Yeah, they're Bluetooth only, don't have an OX cord. So that's fun.
Yeah, and now I gotta wait for some new ones to come in.
Yeah. Do you still hear the ticking right now?
Periodically? Yeah?
Oh really?
Yeah? Dang, but my brain has just gotten used to do it. I think a little bit fair enough. I don't know what that says about my sanity.
Maybe the ticking isn't in the headphones, it's just in your head.
Yeah, it's just no, it's definitely the headphone.
You sure it's not just the ticking down to the day that you snap.
Oh my gosh, I hear this before I fall asleep at night. Can you imagine?
It's just like Captain Hook from Peter Pan and you know, hear the tick tick right of Yep. Anyways, we got quite the show today for you guys, No kidding, if you didn't hear the intro, Yeah, this is This is gonna be another one of those trigger warning episodes because we have a woman who had her unborn child stolen from her and yet yeah, it was taken out of her body. So let's put it that way.
I mean, they're all every single episode needs to have a trigger warning, which is why we have our generic one at the start. Yes, but I guess this one may affect a little bit more some more people than the average I guess like anyone that's a mother, really.
Pretty much anyone with a who's a mother, anyone who has you know, children of a young age or expecting or want. The list goes on. It's just a very sensitive topic. Not that we don't discuss sensitive topics, but it's I don't know.
Well, yeah, I was just gonna be like anyone that has a heart. But that's that's pretty much all of them.
Too, fair enough. Yeah, specifically warning on this one because it is very sensitive to that topic. So if you're ready, we can keep going.
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay. So Reagan Hancock was just twenty one years old when her life was stolen in the most brutal and unimaginable way. She wasn't a public figure or someone who was a living a high profile life. She was a young mother, a wife, a daughter, and a sister who radiated kindness and warmth. What happened to her not only shattered her family, but also deeply unsettled the community of Boston New Boston, Texas. She was born on November fourteenth,
nineteen ninety eight. Reagan Simon's Hancock was her full name. She grew up in New Hope, Arkansas, and later settled in New Boston, Texas, a quiet, tight knit town with a population of just under five thousand people. Her parents, Jessica and Brandon Simmons, divorced when she was young, but Reagan remained close with both sides of her extended fe family. She had siblings, step parents, and a huge support network surrounding her. Her home life was full of laughter, shared meals,
and a constant communication. She and her mom texted every day, the kind of bond that was unshakable, you know. Reagan was known for being gentle, nurturing, and most importantly, welcoming. Friends and family described her as someone who made other feels They feeled safe, They felt safe and included when they were around her. She had a way of making friends very fast with anyone, and she gave people the benefit of the doubt even when maybe she probably shouldn't have.
In her late teens, Reagan met Homer Hancock and they quickly fell in love. The couple married in September of twenty nineteen and were already raising their daughter, Kinley together. Reagan embraced motherhood wholeheartedly. Her social media was full of pictures of her daughter with you know, baby giggles, birthday cakes, and sunny days at the park, and in August of twenty twenty, she shared the news that she was pregnant
with her second child, a baby girl. They planned to name Braxlin Sage Hancock.
Oh that's a.
Cool name, Actually it is. She was thirty four weeks pregnant in October twenty twenty. Excited to welcome her second daughter into the world. She had her hospital bag packed, the nursery was almost done. She was glowing, not just because of the pregnancy, but because she was full of hope. Now let's sidetrack a little bit and introduce another person into the story. Her name is Taylor Parker and she was born in nineteen eighty nine and raised in Texas.
Her parents, Snoah Prior and Mark Morton, divorced in two thousand and five. During the early years after they split, her family tried a fifty to fifty custody arrangement, each parent alternating you know, weeks at the family home with the kids. You know that sort of thing, right. It didn't last long, though, tensions ran high and arguments were witnessed by the children. Eventually, Taylor began spending more time
with her father and grandmother. According to those close to her, Taylor struggled with weight issues from a young age, she reportedly used food as an emotional crutch, and much like her grandmother. You know it seemed to like run into the family because her grandmother relied on food just like the same now. By the age of fourteen, she weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds and was deeply unhappy with her appearance. However, in twenty fourteen, she underwent a
gastric bypass surgery in Mexico to address her obesity. Regardless, though Taylor's problems weren't limited to her body and body image, she as she grew older, a pattern of deception began to emerge, small lies at first, but they grew more elaborate over time. She often fabricated stories about her health, family life, and accomplishments to gain sympathy or attention, whichever she really seemed to prefer at the time. Friends and acquaintances would later describe her as someone who is always
seeking validation, often in manipulative ways. By her late teens, Taylor had dropped at a high school, and soon she became pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, at just seventeen years old. The child's father was reportedly not involved in their lives, and later she married Tommy Sells and had a second child, a son, But after his birth, she made a significant and permanent decision. She underwent tubule legation, or she had her tubes tied, preventing further pregnancy.
Right, so she decided she didn't want any more kiddos.
Correct. That wasn't the end of her reproductive surgeries, though. In twenty fifteen, after being hospitalized for pelvic pain, doctors discovered an ectopic pregnancy and performed an emergency hysterectomy.
Dang.
So what this means basically is it's a pregnancy which occurs with a fertilized egg that implants and grows outside of the main cavity of the uterus. So most likely it's typically found within like a fallopian tube.
Yeah.
Yeah, so not a healthy pregnancy whatsoever.
Yeah, super dangerous. Kind of scary for sure.
So with her emergency hysterectomy, she had a complete removal of her uterus. The procedure, though necessary for her safety, left Taylor unable to carry any more children. While her mother and then husband approved of the surgery while she was under anesthesia at the time, Taylor would later express anger over this decision.
Oh really, yes.
So it was one that she technically was not did not make. Okay, so she was under anesthesia they discovered this and it's like, okay, we got to do this, and they approved did the surgery. So she woke up to the hysterectomy being proved.
Whitch I mean they were making that decision for her benefit, like to save her. And but and it makes sense too because she did have her.
Her tubes tied, which, if I'm not mistaken though it is.
A reverse I think it is. Yeah. So but they probably were like, oh, like she doesn't want to have any more kids or whatever, but clearly that had changed in her mind at some point.
Potentially, Yes, And honestly, it's basically a life saving decision that they made. I can understand her being upset for not having that autonomy on herself, don't get me wrong, but it's someone looking out for like this could kill you. Oh yeah, so that's that's why they made that decision. So I understand both sides of the coin in that situation.
Yeah, I'm sure they made it out of love to save her.
So yes, regardless of how she felt when she first woke up or whether she developed those feelings a little bit later on. It didn't matter because despite what had actually happened, despite the surgery she went through, she kept that fact of that surgery secret from any future partners. So she did not tell them that she had a hysterectomy and that she was unable to carry children.
Okay, so clearly this destroyed her her current relationship.
Yeah, no, overtime tale lies intensified. She told people she had multiple scolerosis, a history of strokes, blood clotting disorders, and even cancer.
Whoa.
She joined support groups for conditions she didn't have, and faked medical paperwork to back up those claims. This wasn't just for sympathy. Taylor also used these lies to manipulate people financially and emotionally. She also repeatedly faked pregnancies in multiple relationships. She would claim to be expecting, then fabricate miscarriages or stillbirths, which in itself is fucked up.
Well, yeah, what was she doing, like just trying to look for sympathy, I'm assuming her.
A lot of the times? Yeah wow? Yeah, Now, each time she managed to elicit care and concern from those around her, and each time the truth eventually came out. In twenty nineteen, Taylor began dating a man by the name of Wade Griffin, a horse trainer she met at a rodeo. As with previous relationships, Taylor painted herself as someone's success full, wealthy, and eager to start a family.
She told Wade she came from oil money, had expensive properties, and was set to inherit large sums of wealth, none of which were of course true.
Meanwhile, she's poor pretty much.
And then once again she said she was pregnant, and this time it would go further than any of the other lies had gone before. Taylor spared no effort in crafting the illusion of a pregnancy. She posted ultrasound photos online, which were of course doctored, bought a prosthetic pregnancy belly, and attended fake doctor appointments. Her social media showed maternity photos, due dates, and even baby name announcements, and Wade believed it, so did much of her inner circle with her friends.
But by mid twenty twenty, cracks were starting to show her body didn't match the pregnancy claims. Her behavior became a radic and Taylor had boxed herself into a corner. Now As I mentioned, she convinced her boyfriend Wade, that she was pregnant with this child. It was a lie that was at this point beginning to reach an expiration date.
With the HYS direct me now five years behind her and a fabricated due date that's fast approaching, Taylor began to spiral deeper into a fantasy that she could no longer sustain from the outside. Yeah, she appeared to be another expecting mother. She posted on her socials with her whole journey of being pregnancy, with all the photos, the ultrasounds,
do dates, all the things that I've already mentioned. In fact, she even had a baby shower, inviting friends and family to celebrate the upcoming birth of the baby girl, who she claims she was going to name Clancy Gaale.
Oh my word, hey, like, how can you just do that?
Right?
It's collecting gifts and shit from people, and.
Yeah, okay, yeah, she's collecting gifts, She's posting fake ultrasounds onogram like all this sort of stuff, and she's continuing to do it and knowing that there's going to be a point where there is a point of no return, will figure this out?
Well, yeah, I'm imagining too. If she already had mental health issues, this is only going to make them just worse.
Exactly, and everything she's going through, any question someone has, she's fabricating another lie to cover that trailang And I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said it to quote, no man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar, and by man, of course human. So yeah, whatever sex you want to be or gender doesn't matter, you still fall in that category. And this is definitely the same case. She is not going to be a successful liar because you do not have a good enough memory.
You can't cover all these trails.
No, you're gonna slip, you will.
So friends and her boyfriend, everyone they were starting to grow weary and suspicious that something was up. Wade's family in particular, noticed that Taylor's body wasn't looking like a pregnant woman's body typically does, especially in the final stages of pregnancy. Her stories didn't quite add up, especially when she seemed reluctant to let anyone accompany her to appointments or see any official paper. But Taylor just doubled down.
She told Wade that she had a condition causing the baby to sit high inner abdomen, which explained why she didn't quote look very pregnant because you know, in the later stages of pregnancy, the belly starts to drop right, things like that. She also claimed she was receiving specialized prenatal care from a high risk OBG. How do you say that, obgyn? Or do you? Is like, do you?
How do you? Obgyn?
Okay? I wasn't sure if you actually say every letter or if like you read it like obigin or something.
No, No, I'm pretty sure it's like obgyn.
Yeah, okay, okay, you can tell we haven't had kids before. So but she yeah, claimed she had this high risk obgyn and convinced him that everything was just, you know, progressing normally. As her frank pregnancy neared its supposed conclusion, Taylor's Internet history revealed a chilling amount of signs of
the things to come now. Of course, these are things that would come out later in an investigation, but her search history included things like how to face pregnancy, how to perform a C section at home, how to make yourself look pregnant, fake baby ultrasound images, women near me do October twenty twenty.
Oh gosh, Yeah, that's disturbing.
Yeah, she's actually actively searching for expecting mothers in her area, especially those close to her fake do date. Now, at some point in mid twenty twenty, her attention turned towards a woman named Reagan Hancock. She was a young Bunner mother of you know, someone that she kind of knew a little bit, and her pregnancy was about thirty three
weeks in for her second child. Now, the two women had cross paths before in a casual way, but they weren't really friends enough to like follow on social media sort of thing. Okay, so they connected briefly when Taylor had offered to do a maternity session for Reagan at one point and had canceled. Yeah so a maternity photos shoot?
Right? Oh?
Is she for talkographer in some way? I guess? Okay, as far as I'm aware, she's not a professional photographer, but maybe a hobbyist who does some photo sessions or maybe you know, looking to become professional build her portfolio or yeah. Yeah, but regardless, the photo session never happened, but it was enough for them to know who each other are at this point, so Taylor kept tabs on Reagan's social media. She knew Reagan's name, her family set
up her address, and most importantly, her due date. Those close to Taylor later described how she became increasingly fixated on her own fake pregnancy and on other women who were truly expecting. She was spending hours looking through pregnancy forms, tracking people that she did not know, and there was a strange intensity behind her interest in maternity, babies, in motherhoods. Right with of course Reagan becoming the center of all of that.
Well does she not work? How does she have time for all this? And didn't she already have? She already had two kids, didn't she?
She did, But I'm not too sure how they play into her life. I don't by the sounds of it, they weren't living with her. And this is purely my speculation. I didn't dive into where her children were or anything like that, but it seems to me like her children are probably not in her full custody, just from an assumption.
Okay, which maybe there's a good reason for that.
Hey, Yeah, Now I do know that she was working. I don't know what she was doing as a profession, but she was working at times, and many times she was phoning and sick because Hey, you know what pregnancy is, right, things happening, doctor's appointments, that sort of stuff.
Meanwhile, she's just at home obsessing over the internet and other people who are pregnant.
Pretty much. Now, when all this is going on, her boyfriend Wade began pressuring her to finalize baby preparations. You know, her due dates approaching. It's coming fast. He was excited to become a father, and Taylor, by now was fully entrenched in this deception, and she realized her lie couldn't stretch any further. She was out of time, out of
excuse uses, and out of options. And that's when she went and shifted things from pretending to planning her next move would turn from a compulsive liar to her being a cold blooded killer.
Oh, I mean, I guess there comes a point where you're just so desperate that you need this sly to be true.
And that's what it was from her. It just like the other fake pregnancies before they're gonna find out, they're gonna find out, But this time she's determined to make it a reality.
But geez, to just go about you know, hurting someone else, that's such a turn.
That's what she's about to do so. On the morning of October ninth, twenty twenty, it began like any other quiet day in the town of New Boston, Texas, the community of just under five thousand people about one hundred and sixty miles northeast of Dallas. Reagan Hancock was home with her three year old daughter, Kinley. She'd been up early preparing for the day. Reagan's mother, Jessica Brooks, had tried to call and check in, but she got no response, and,
feeling uneasy, she decided to drive over. Meanwhile, Taylor was already on the move, carrying a scalpel, a fake pregnancy belly, and a twisted plan. She just headed directly for Reagan's house. Just after nine am, Taylor entered Reagan's home. The exact events of what happened inside are pieced together from blood evidence and forensics, and the horrifying scene that the investigators would later document. Reagan was bludgeoned and stabbed repeatedly inside
her own home. She suffered over one hundred injuries, including blunt force trauma to her head believed to be caused by a hammer, and numerous defensive wounds on her hands and arms. Investigators determined that she fought for her life, moving through the house trying to escape, all while her daughter Kin was inside as well.
Shoot, she was fighting for her life and her unborn baby's life. Correct for the love of Oh my gosh. Okay.
At some point during the attack, Taylor used a scalpel to slice open Reagan's abdomen, cutting her from hip to hip in a crude attempt to remove the unborn child. Despite the trauma, it is believed Reagan may have still been alive and awake during the procedure.
Oh my gosh, from hip to hip. Yes, okay, this is just this is a frickin' This isn't worse than a nightmare. I don't even think anyone could dream this shit. Right, it's unbelievable.
It's fucked up.
That is unbelievable.
Now, they're not exactly sure how she gained entrying to the home. It's they assume most likely Reagan let her in, probably because she's such a welcoming and kind individual and trusted her and she's liked, oh, what do you do, I'll come on in for coffee something like that, right.
Like she would ever imagine what was about to happen exactly so.
Taylor likely though we don't know for sure, likely knocked on the door. She opened the door, was greeted and was kind, and then when she entered the home, the assault began.
Oh my gosh, this is this is.
Just unreal now. Once she had extracted the baby girl from her abdomen, later named Braclin Hancock, Taylor fled the home, leaving Reagan's body laying there on the floor in.
A pool of blood, with her other child still just running around.
With her other child still in the house man, she carried the baby a bilical cord still attached out to her car and began driving north, crossing into Oklahoma. At around ten thirty am, just a few hours after the brutal attack in New Boston, Texas, Taylor was pulled over by a State Texas trooper in DeKalb Texas, about ten
miles from Louisiana and the border. She was driving erratically and speeding, prompting the traffic stop by a state trooper, and what he saw when he pulled her over was disturbing. He approached the vehicle, Taylor was there behind the wheel, covered in blood, appeared frantic and claimed that she'd just given birth on the side of the road, and in her arms was a newborn baby girl, unresponsive and pale.
Oh man, okay, yeah, because I'm like, is this baby gonna survive? It's young.
She told the trooper the baby was struggling to breathe and it needed urgent medical care. Emergency responders rushed to the scene, but something didn't feel right. The baby's condition didn't match her story. There is no amniotic fluid in the car, no signs of labor, and the baby was already cold to the touch.
Oh no.
Still, paramedics began performing CPR and rushed both Taylor and the infant to McCurtain's Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma. While this was happening, Reagan's mother, Jessica, arrived at the family home.
Oh Boy.
As I mentioned, she couldn't get in touch with her daughter, and she instinctively knew something was wrong. What she found confirmed her worst fears. There was blood on the driveway, blood on the door, and bloody fingerprints on the handle. Inside, she found her daughter face down in the living room, soaked in blood. Reagan was already dead and her abdomen sliced open, with her baby gone.
Holy shit. I cannot even imagine a mother coming across like coming into a scene like that.
I know now Kinley, her three year old daughter, thankfully was found alive and unharmed. She was hiding under a blanket in her bedroom. Traumatized.
Yeah, she would have been trauma. Hopefully she doesn't remember any of that, but.
So Jessica immediately called nine to one one and soon the Texas Rangers and local police were on the scene, and it didn't take long to realize they were dealing with not just a homicide, but also a kidnapping and possibly a second murder. Meanwhile, Taylor's story began to fall apart quickly as she's talking to you. The first responders and the park ranger at the scene. She was brought to the McCurtain's Memorial Hospital, and the emergency personnel and
doctors noted several critical inconsistencies in her story. No physical signs of childbirth, there were no contractions that she was having, there's no after birth, and no trauma to her uterus. Lab tests showed no recent pregnancies. Her hormone levels were consistent with someone who had not been pregnant for a very long time, if ever at all. In fact, she even refused internal examination, which immediately raised red flags for
both medical and law enforcement staff. The umbilical core of the baby was not properly cut or clamped, and there was no medical equipment or supplies in the car, which I mean may show that it was an unexpected situation of giving birth, but still there was no sign showing she had actually given birth. What so ever. When hospital staff called the investigators from the Texas Rangers, the story
began to shift. Under pressure from investigators, Taylor finally admitted that no, she had not given birth, but rather than tell the truth, she spun another wild lie.
Well, of course she did. She can't possibly say what she actually did.
Yeah. What she told investigators was that Reagan had invited her over, they got into an argument, and that Reagan had somehow injured herself in a freak accident and then begged Taylor to take her baby before she died.
Oh man, Okay, that is probably the worst lie I've ever heard in my whole entire life. That is just I'm.
Real, it's beyond far fetched.
Holy shit, that doesn't even make any sense.
No one believed it, of course, of course, and the evidence pointing towards something much more sinister was overwhelming. Despite the best efforts of first responders and the staff at the hospital, baby Braxlen would not make it.
Oh my gosh, are you serious.
Braxlin died shortly after arrival at the hospital. She never stood a chance.
Oh dang, I was so hopeful that it would have been a miracle. There.
Yeah. Back at reaganhand Cox's home, investigators were arriving at the scene and it was beyond gruesome. Blood covered the walls, floors, appliances. It was clear Reagan fought hard to survive and protect herself and her unborn child. She had been beaten, she'd been stabbed and ultimately cut open, and they were now
looking at the aftermath. Investigators quickly ruled the death of homicide in a kidnapping, and when they matched the timeline and the identity of the baby in Taylor's care at the hospital, it was clear to authorities what had happened. She murdered Reagan, cut her baby from her womb, and tried to pass it off as her own.
Imagine Reagan's husband, he just probably at work and to even comprehend this story in his mind. I know of what just happened to his wife and baby.
Well, honestly, both men in the situation. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that they have it worse off than well, no.
I agree to with what perspective. Shit going on there too, Wade.
Wade's expecting that he's now a father and he just realizes his girlfriend, who is supposed to be carrying his daughter, is a murderer who cut open another woman to steal a child and kill them both in the process. And then on the other hand, you have Reagan's husband, who, yeah, at work now just learns that your wife was just killed and your newborn baby, who hasn't even been born yet was also killed and stolen stolen. That is two completely different fucked up things.
To happen both of those. I just I don't even think that you could comprehend what was going on.
Oh man, I think.
I would be like, is this a joke? Like? Are you serious?
Yeah? Like, is Ashton Kutcher punking me right now?
Oh?
I just freaking aged myself, you did, But yeah, it's unbelievable to think of being in that situation for real.
Yeah.
So, by the afternoon of October ninth, Taylor was formally arrested and charged with capital murder and kidnapping. Her online activity of searches on how to perform c section, instructions on how to fake a pregnancy, articles of abduction of infants, and how to avoid detection. It all painted the gruesome picture of a premeditated attack, and it was all done to maintain the lie that she had told her boyfriend Wade and others as well, that she was pregnant with
his child. The trial of Taylor Rhianne Parker began in September of twenty twenty two in Bowie County, Texas, nearly two years after the brutal murder of Reagan Hancock and the abduction of her unborn daughter, Braxon Sage. It was a case drenched in deception, grief, and horror, and it would soon become one of the most whole ye profile cases that the state has seen in years. Taylor was formally charged with capital murder, kidnapping, and tampering with a
human corpse. Officially, given the premeditated nature of the crime and the death of not just Reagan but also Braxln, prosecutors sought the death penalty.
Whoa okay.
The defense hoped to spare Taylor's life, pushing for a sentence of life in prison without parole instead. Now, during the trial, a fellow inmate of Taylor's because members she sat behind bar for a couple of years. Yeah so, a fellow inmate of Taylor's at the Bowie County Jail, Shay Yeager, testified that Taylor had admitted details to the crime while in custody. According to Shay, they revealed she
originally tried to use a kitchen knife from Reagan's home. However, it was ineffective, so she went back to her car, retrieved the scalpel that she had brought with her, then iced open Reagan, and after removing her infant, she placed Braxln next to Reagan to say, quote goodbye for her.
Oh what.
So? Reagan most likely still alive at this point, though I'm not sure conscious or unconscious, had her unborn child placed next to her. The murderer, this monster mocked a goodbye to your mommy sort of situation, then took her child and left her to die, and then killed her unborn child in the process. Because of lack of medical care and what she just fucking.
Did Oh, okay, that is that is just a terrible visual.
Yeah. It was a detail that left the courtroom stunned in silence during the trial.
Oh shit.
Now, while the defense later tried to question the motive behind Shay Yeager's testimony on this, there was no compensation or plea deals that were to it, so her claims had no weight. She had no reason to be saying this, you know, like to try and get herself out of jail sooner or anything. And it aligned disturbingly well with the forensic evidence that was left behind of the scene. So it is very likely that this is a true picture of what happened.
Gosh, that is so sad. I wonder if Reagan was conscious. I feel like she probably wouldn't have been, but h.
I mean most likely not. Even if she was conscious when the cutting began, most likely she would have passed out due to the pain.
Yeah, but still now.
The autopsy report also confirmed what investigators already suspected. This was a cold methodic killing. Reagan suffered over one hundred injuries, including blunt forced trauma to the head and face, stab wounds on her neck, chest, abdomen, a deep horizontal incision across her stomach, not medically executed, but violent and crude defensive zuns on her hands and arms, which indicated a
fierce attempt to fight back. The official cause of death was a combination of blood loss and trauma from the assault. Baby Braxlin was delivered alive, but likely suffered severe oxygen deprivation during the assault or shortly afterwards, and despite life saving efforts at the hospital, she was pronounced dead the same day.
Reagan was also probably terrified too for her other kid. That was oh definitely no, I bet you she thought she was quite in danger too. Now.
The prosecution's case was methodical and relentless. Lead prosecutor Kelly Crisp laid out a detailed timeline of how Taylor spent months building up an illusion and how when the truth threatened to unravel, she made a horrific decision to commit
the murder. They painted Taylor as a manipulative liar with a long history of deception, a woman who studied how to fake pregnancies and perform a sea section, and someone who deliberately chose a victim Reagan and executed a calculated plan to kill her and still steal her unborn baby. The jury was shown photos of the blood soaked crime scene, Reagan's defensive wounds, the baby's trauma, and the items found in Taylor's possession, including the scalpel she brought with her
to the home. They also showed the Internet search history, which was a digital smoking gun. Taylor's defense team faced an uphill battle. Their strategy hinged on mental instability, in the idea that Taylor was a troubled woman pushing pushed to the brink by infertility, rejection, and years of emotional trauma. They argued that she had a history of complex migraine, some possible brain damage, specifically from the frontal lobe, which
influences decision making and impulsive control. She was raised in a chaotic home. They argued that she suffered emotional issues from an early age. The crime, while horrific, was not premeditated, they said, but they suggested that it was the result of a sudden psychotic break impulsive act.
I think it was premeditated, oh, one hundred percent. Yeah, maybe not for you know, it seemed like it was for at least like a week span, Oh definitely, don't know, probably even a little longer.
Put it this way, even if you take the account of all the search history out the fact that she drove to Reagan's home with the scalpel. Yeah shows intent?
Yeah, no, yeah, it does.
Now this argument clashed sharply with all the prosecutions mountains of evidence. Like I said, the scalpel alone, there's the month's long charade of her saying that she's pregnant, not the search histories. I mean, there's several key moments from this trial that struck in her with jurors and the public, like and they knew one hundred percent that this being
quote unquote not premeditated was bullshit. Now. Jessica Brooks, Reagan's mother, testified about the day she found her daughter's mutilated body. Her raw and emotional description of seeing Reagan's face down, Reagan face down in a pool of blood and it, yeah, it was. It left the courtroom in tears. I'm just going to cut short of that. Her husband, Homer Hancock, he could barely speak at his statement when he was
reading it aloud. He described holding Braxlin for the first time, already gone cold and lifeless, and how the future he and Reagan had planned was stolen from him.
Oh wow, that I couldn't imagine sitting there and having to listen to these I.
Know there was corrections officers and jail staff who testified to Taylor's manipulative and confrontational behavior behind bars. Because she went on too fake medical symptoms and threats. And we'll get into that.
A bit, she like continued, Yes, whatever game she was playing in jail.
Yes, and I'll touch on it here. Don't worry. Then, of course, the fellow inmate, Shay Yeager, who went on to tell the court the details that Taylor talked about while behind bars.
Imagine having to share a cell hearing these stories of what this person did.
Surprise she survived because people like that generally don't really survive in jail. Yeah, because even criminals look at you and like you did what to a child?
Yeah?
So now, throughout the trial, Taylor's behavior drew scrutiny. She often cried, especially when photos were shown, but prosecutors argued her tears were self pity and not remorse. She never testified in her own defense either. When the guilty verdict came out on December third of twenty twenty two, Taylor showed no visible reaction. Then on November ninth, twenty twenty two, After just over an hour of deliberation, the jury in
Bowie County reached their final decision for sentencing. Taylor Reen Parker was sentenced to death for the capital murder of Reagan Hancock and her unborn daughter, Braxln Sage. It was the first death sentence handed down to a woman in Texas in nearly a decade. Jurors were attasked with answering two critical questions during the Senate. Was Taylor likely to commit future acts of violence that would pose a threat to society?
Yes?
And were there any mitigation circumstances that were warranted a sentence of life in prison instead of death. They answered yes to the first and no to the second.
Yep.
In the end, the evidence, the planning, the tools that she brought with her, the callousness that she acted upon, her behavior after room afterwards, it left little room for any sort of mercy. Taylor was expressionless as a sentence was read outloud. The witnesses noted she began to shake and quietly cried when her fate was officially finalized. The most powerful voice in the courtroom that day came from Reagan's family, the victims, you know. Impacted statements were heart wrenching, furious,
and full of grief. Though I have many, I'm going to only just read one here. Oh manned.
Okay.
Jessica Brooks, Reagan's mother, face Taylor and said this, you watched her die. My baby was alive, still fighting for her babies when you tore her open and ripped her baby from her stomach. Jessica Brooks vowed to never speak Taylor's name again, except to remind people of her evil. She spoke to Reagan's beauty, her joy, and how Braxleln had every right to take her first breath in love and not in violence.
Well, yeah, Reagan honestly just sounded like just an angel.
Yeah. Taylor Parker was transferred to Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas, where all female Death Row inmates are housed. Her life now consists of twenty three hours a day in solitary confinement in a sixty square foot cell, four visits per year conducted behind glass, and four phone calls per year,
each no longer than five minutes in length. Though Taylor was never formally diagnosed during the trial, her behavior years matched several traits commonly found in antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders, including pathological lying, lack of empathy, manipulative tendencies, grandiose self image, and disregard for others' rights and safety. There are also traits someone associated with psychopathy. Taylor continued to show these
same behaviors behind bars. She made frequent, dramatic medical complaints that were never backed up by tests. She accused jail staff of mistreatment. She allegedly threatened other inmates, and even claimed to hear voices, but of course only ever after being denied privileges.
Well, honestly, the life that she's living is like no life at all anymore.
Yeah, and which is still too good for her in my opinion.
Yeah, but I think that would I feel like that would make anyone just go mad completely right. She was already she already was, I guess. Yeah.
Now. In short, she acted like someone still trying to stay in control, even when she she had none herself none. The murder of Reagan Hancock and the abduction of her unborn child left deep scars on her family, the community, and the wider public. This was more than just a shocking crime. It was a case that challenged how we understand trust, maternal safety, and the dangers of unchecked deception. This case is a painful reminder that sometimes the most
dangerous threats don't come from strangers. They come from people we believe we can trust. Taylor Parker didn't just take lives. She stole joy, peace, and the future from an entire family. But through their grief, Reagan's loved ones have shown extraordinary strength, and by telling this story and by continuing to speak her name, they're making sure that what was lost that day will never be forgotten. And that's the story of Reagan and Braxlin Hancock.
Hmm, that is just so shitty. Also, terrible timing of this story being that it's like Mother's Day on Sunday.
Oh I didn't even think of that. Yeah, oh shit, Yeah not bad.
Well no, I mean any like thoughts of stories involved like kids and moms and stuff.
But frigg. Oh, that was really bad timing. Actually shit, I should not have done this case when I did. Okay, all right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That's on me.
Well, no, it's yeah, I don't know it. I was thinking about that a lot through it. But anyway, happy Mother's day, just kidding, just kidding, Oh that's so bad, it's so bad.
Well, honestly, no, it's it's a reminder, you know, like you you never you never guaranteed anything, No, so celebrate those little things with your loved ones when you can.
Well yeah, and enjoy like every day, every moment you have with your kids and stuff. So yeah, yeah, because that Reagon just seemed like just such a star, like she just like, I don't know your descriptions and other people's descriptions, she just liked, and this piece of garbage just took that completely away from everyone.
Worse than garbage obviously, like worse.
Then worse then Yeah. Yeah, I could say a lot of things, but people are like you Smar too much.
So I love we fucking hate this bitch.
Yeah, honestly. And it's interesting. One other thing I kind of thought too, is like she's she's googling, you know, how to do a C section and all this shit, But did she google like what would happen to her if she got caught or like anything afterwards? Yeah, she didn't think this through whatsoever. And I'm assuming she's just like waiting, sitting there on death row. She's probably not even gonna actually get killed.
Oh, I mean, I guess the fact that she's just in solitary confinement and stuff, yet she's not gonna I don't think anyone has access to her, probably for that reason.
Well yeah, like oh man, I okay, yeah, I just and probably the guards having to deal with her and stuff too, right, is not because she's saying that she's not being treated well, but she is probably terrible to deal with.
Probably. I also just don't understand, like okay, and I mean I kind of understand to some degree because she's not thinking of the future. She's taking it like as it comes, because that's how you do when you lie. You just deal with it as it comes, and you're not thinking about repercussions or future scenarios or anything. But you just, quote unquote to her fake story, gave birth to a child. What's gonna happen when you know your mom is like, but you had a hysterectomy. What's gonna
happen when that comes out? Yeah, what's gonna happen when you know what? You take the dot the quote unquote your daughter, which fuck you, it's not to the hospital get checked up, and it's like you know, you don't have a uterus, you can't bear children, like.
You know what I mean, and like, yeah, this kid, I mean she the baby probably would have survived if she was born that early, but in like a hospital and stuff with like medical care, right, But did she just think that she could just traumatically take this baby out and it would just live and they, yeah, they would go on their merry way and like happily ever after. Like what the actual shit?
Like some massive delusions in this person's mind. None of it makes sense. It's completely fucked up. If you guys have listened to many episodes, you know, like I try to play Devil's Advocate when I can. I cannot place play Devil's Advocate for this individual, like at all. It does not make sense. She's fucked up. She did something I can't even wrap my mind around. And I'm sorry. She's a bitch beyond beyond a bitch.
Hope she rots, well, yeah, like Reagan left her, let her in the house. I know, I've heard stories before. I don't know if it's because we've covered one similar where someone was like picking up baby clothes or something that they were like selling on KGGI or marketplace or something, and that's how that person got access to this lady. Yeah, I just picked up something from marketplace that I bought yesterday, and like the lady was like, come in, and I'm
just like, what are you doing? Don't invite me in?
Did you tell her that?
No, But I'm thinking that in my head because gosh, what if I was psychotic? Yeah, it would have been like such easy access for me. I'm not clearly and I but I in my mind, I was like, I wanted to help this lady, don't do this.
But then if you started saying don't invite me in, I might kill you. You would have looked like a psychotic place.
And I probably would have scared the shit out of her. But then she probably would never have let anyone in going forward, which so that's a win.
But you probably also would have had the cops following you one way home.
So I know, I don't know. We're just so trusting, right, because I mean, these stories are rare, but they do happen.
Well, I mean it's we should be able to be trusting, is the thing. We should be able to sell something Facebook marketplace and have a stranger come up to our door and no problem. We should be able to, you know, have our door unlocked in the afternoons when we're sitting at home. We should be able to leave a window open on a hot summer night with a bleat breeze rolling in as we sleep in our bedroom. We should
be able to do those things. Yeah, but unfortunately there's some fucked up people out there, like this chick who just I swear or like devils mm hmm, Like how can you be anything but when you do something like this, No kidding anyways, as Nicole said, happy Mother's Day.
No, honestly, we do hope you guys have a good Mother's Day. This was the timing may have been poor, but like any other story could have, like you know, also hit.
So yeah, but like I said, that's on me because I did not think about that, So totally my bad.
I just call you on at the end day, at least I didn't do it. I almost did it halfway through and then you would have felt like an asshole going forward. So at least I saved Itelli end.
Yeah, at least you made me only feel like an asshole at the very end.
Hey, this is paid back. If you guys are a patron uh or patron member. You're gonna know that I deserve this, so fair enough, fair enough.
Anyways, short out for today, all the things in the description of this podcast. We love you. You're amazing, Thank you for being here, and until next time, stay wicked.