TEXAS — The U.S. Supreme Court declined an appeal from Taylor Parker regarding her capital murder conviction and death sentence in November 2022. This decision followed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' upholding of her conviction and sentence.
Parker was convicted of capital murder in October 2022 and sentenced to death the following month. A defense neurologist testified, "Something is very wrong with her brain," and described Parker's diagnosis as frontal lobe syndrome.
Prosecutors argued the crime was premeditated, alleging Parker had plotted for months to obtain a baby. Forensic psychologist Gary Brucato said, "There's a phenomenon called elimination murder, where you have no hard feelings toward the person but they are in the way of something you want." Brucato added, "Their sense is that they would become a catch to this person if they could just have a child." Parker attacked Reagan Simmons-Hancock, who was seven and a half months pregnant, on October 9, 2020. Parker stabbed or slashed Simmons-Hancock approximately 100 times before using a scalpel to remove the infant. Simmons-Hancock's three-year-old daughter was found unharmed at the scene.
After Parker left the scene with the infant, a state trooper stopped her for erratic driving. The trooper found Parker covered in dried blood and holding the infant. Medical staff at an Idabel, Oklahoma hospital examined Parker and found no physical evidence indicating recent childbirth. Parker confessed to a physical altercation with Simmons-Hancock and to removing the infant from her body during questioning.
On appeal, attorneys argued Parker should not have been charged with capital murder because the infant may not have been alive when removed. Caitlin Halpern said, "In our view, the evidence at trial clearly showed that, tragically, the infant was not born alive, so as a matter of law could not be victim or target of a kidnapping." Texas appeals courts cited medical testimony to determine a jury could reasonably conclude the infant was born alive at the time of removal. Appeals attorneys also argued Parker did not receive a fair trial due to media coverage and social media commentary during the penalty phase.
Parker, who was 29 years old at the time of the crime, had undergone a hysterectomy in 2019. Investigators testified that she watched instructional videos on delivering and caring for infants prior to the crime. Parker had met Simmons-Hancock while photographing her engagement and wedding. Texas law allows for convictions of both kidnapping and murder to result in a sentence of life without parole or death by lethal injection. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice states Parker is one of seven women on death row in Texas, and she has not been scheduled for execution.