Autopsy findings discussed in case of pregnant mother and unborn child

Taylor Parker
Taylor Parker

NEW BOSTON, Texas -Autopsy findings were discussed Friday at a pretrial hearing for a woman accused of killing a pregnant friend and taking her unborn child last year.

Taylor Rene Parker, aka Taylor Morton, 28, is currently under indictment for two counts of capital murder and a count of kidnapping in the Oct. 9 deaths of Reagan Hancock and her daughter, Braxlynn Sage Hancock. Parker has pleaded not guilty to the charges and the state has announced that it is seeking the death penalty.

Parker appeared Friday with Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson and Mount Pleasant lawyer Mac Cobb before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said she filed a motion Friday to amend the indictment charging Parker with capital murder in Reagan Hancock's death based on newly received findings from the medical examiner.

The indictment currently alleges Parker murdered Reagan Hancock by slashing and/or cutting her abdomen and body with a knife and/or scalpel and by beating and/or striking her in the head and body with a blunt object. Crisp said that she and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards recently met with the medical examiner to discuss autopsy results and have determined that additional language should be added in light of those findings.

Crisp's motion seeks to include allegations that strangulation was a factor in Reagan Hancock's death in addition to slashing, cutting, beating and striking.

"They included information that there is a component of strangulation," Crisp said, noting that she provided a copy of the autopsy report to the defense.

Crisp also addressed the matter of expert witnesses who may be hired by the defense. Under Texas law, each side has to give notice to the other regarding the substance of expert testimony at least 20 days in advance of trial.

Crisp said she worries that 20 days may not give the state the time it will need to respond as the allegations against Parker are unique. Fetal abductions are extremely rare and there is little if any scientific literature on such occurrences.

"These experts are going to be difficult to come by," Crisp said. "We're not dealing with typical criminal behavior. This is unusual, I think we'd all agree."

Tidwell asked the lawyers to file briefs on the matter prior to Parker's next pretrial hearing in late July.

Parker's trial is scheduled to begin in mid-September 2022 with weeks of jury selection to occur the month before. Because the state has announced it does intend to seek the death penalty for Parker, jury selection will differ from a trial where a prison term is sought. Jurors will report individually to answer questions from the defense and prosecution.

At an earlier pretrial hearing, Crisp said the state intends to first try Parker on the charge of capital murder involving Reagan Hancock. Parker faces death by lethal injection or life without parole if convicted.

Parker 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 De Kalb, Texas, not far from the Oklahoma border, just after 9:30 a.m. Parker was allegedly performing CPR on the infant girl in her lap and the umbilical cord appeared to be coming from her pants.

An ambulance 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.

The Texas trooper first made contact with Parker at 9:37 a.m. Oct. 9. 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 LifeNet personnel turned Hancock over, a large cut across her abdomen was revealed and it was determined the baby had been removed.

A small scalpel, which had not been visible to investigators at the crime scene, was found lodged in Hancock's neck during an autopsy by a Dallas medical examiner.

Parker and Reagan Hancock were friends. Reagan Hancock posted a sonogram photo on a social media site with an early November due date in the months before her murder.

Parker allegedly convinced her boyfriend she was pregnant and often made social media posts supporting her claim. The boyfriend reported that he expected to meet Parker at a hospital in Idabel at noon Oct. 9 for a planned, induced labor and delivery.

Parker is currently being held in the Bowie County jail.

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