NEW BOSTON, Texas -- Jury selection for the capital murder trial of Taylor Renee Parker begins Monday.
Parker, 25, could face the death penalty for allegedly murdering expectant mother Regan Simmons Hancock and taking her unborn child on Oct.9, 2020.
More than 500 people previously qualified as jurors in the case. In a death penalty case, prospective jurors will be notified of a time and place to report and they will be questioned privately by both Bowie County prosecutors and by the defense, said Bowie County Prosecuting Attorney Jerry Rochelle.
"Because this is a death penalty case, both sides can ask prospective jurors all types of questions," Rochelle said. Prospective jurors will also be questioned privately as opposed to the typical juror panel.
A jury will hopefully be selected in about two weeks, Rochelle said.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin Sept. 12 at the Bowie County Courthouse.
A Texas state trooper stopped Parker's vehicle pulled Parker over in DeKalb, Texas, not far from the Oklahoma border, just after 9:30 a.m. the morning of Oct. 9, 2020, according to a probable cause affidavit. Parker allegedly was performing CPR on the infant girl in her lap. The infant's and the umbilical cord appeared to be coming from Parker's her pants.
An ambulance took 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.
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.
Parker and Reagan Hancock were friends, according to records. Hancock was nearing her due date, and she and her husband had already chosen a name, 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 Oct. 9 due date to celebrate the arrival of a nonexistent baby that never truly existed. The boyfriend reported that he expected to meet Parker, then 27, at noon Oct. 9 at a hospital in Idabel for a planned, induced labor and delivery.
Parker is also facing kidnapping charges involving the baby and may be tried on those charges later. She is being held without bail in the Bowie County jail.
Bowie County's last capital murder trial was in 2017.
Billy Joel Tracy was found guilty in the fall of 2017 in the 2015 brutal beating death of Barry Telford Unit Correctional Officer Timothy Davison. A video of Tracy slipping a hand free of its cuff and attacking Davison was played for the Bowie County jury that found Tracy guilty of capital murder.
Tracy is on death row but has taken his appeal to federal court, according to a previous Gazette article.