NEW BOSTON, Texas - A woman accused of murdering an expectant New Boston mom and taking her unborn baby from her body on a recent October morning was formally indicted Thursday and is facing a possible death sentence.
Taylor Parker, aka Taylor Morton and Taylor Wacasey, was indicted by a Bowie County grand jury Thursday on charges of capital murder and kidnapping in the deaths of Reagan Michelle Simmons Hancock and her unborn daughter, Braxlynn Sage Hancock. The capital murder charge involves the mother's death while the kidnapping charge involves the abduction of the unborn infant. An information charging Parker with murder in the baby's death filed earlier this year by First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp remains pending.
Parker, 27, allegedly attacked 21-year-old Reagan Hancock the morning of Oct. 9 at her home in New Boston, according to a probable cause affidavit. A Texas state trooper pulled Parker over in DeKalb, Texas, not far from the Oklahoma border, just after 9:30 a.m. that morning. Parker allegedly was performing CPR on the infant girl in her lap and the umbilical cord appeared to be coming from her pants. Parker allegedly claimed to have delivered the child roadside.
An ambulance transported Parker and the baby to McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, where the baby was pronounced deceased and doctors determined Parker had not given birth.
The trooper first made contact with Parker at 9:37 a.m. Oct. 9. At 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.
When Hancock's mother called 911 mid-morning Oct. 9, she "was screaming that someone killed her baby."
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.
Parker allegedly confessed to an investigator with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that she was not pregnant and admitted to having been in an "altercation" with Hancock.
"Parker used a small scalpel to remove the unborn infant from the body," the affidavit states.
A small scalpel was found lodged in Hancock's neck during an autopsy by a Dallas medical examiner that had not been visible to investigators at the crime scene.
Parker and Reagan Hancock were friends on Facebook and reportedly knew one another. Reagan Hancock had posted a sonogram photo on the social media site with an early November due date in the months before her death. 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 Oct. 9 due date to celebrate the arrival of a baby that never truly existed. The boyfriend reported that he expected to meet Parker, 27, at a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, at noon Oct. 9 for a planned, induced labor and delivery.
According to an Oct. 19 civil filing in Bowie County by the Texas Attorney General's Office, Parker, under the name Taylor Wacasey, is thousands behind on child support to the father of a son she gave birth to in 2013. The motion accuses Parker of failing to make even one monthly payment of $225 toward the support of her son as ordered beginning March 1, 2018. Parker is allegedly more than $7,600 delinquent in payments and interest.
Bowie County court records show Parker divorced a man with the last name Wacasey in March 2018 and was granted a marriage license to wed a man with the last name Parker the following month. In July 2019, Taylor Parker's marriage to Parker ended in divorce in Bowie county.
No children were born of that marriage. Parker reportedly has a daughter who is older than her son and who has a different father.
Parker is being held in the Bowie County jail in downtown Texarkana with bails totaling $5 million. Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson was recently appointed to represent Parker by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is leading the prosecution.
If convicted of kidnapping, Parker faces two to 10 years in prison. If found guilty of murder she faces five to 99 years or life. If convicted of capital murder, Parker faces a sentence of life without parole or death by lethal injection.