Wedding photographer faked pregnancy for months before killing bride

Reagan Simmons-Hancock trusted Taylor Parker completely. Parker was her friend, wedding photographer, and mother-to-be. What Simmons-Hancock believed to be a genuine friendship was actually a carefully prepared deception that would eventually culminate in murder.

Parker was convicted of capital murder in 2022 for the 2020 killing of 21-year-old Simmons-Hancock and the kidnapping of her unborn daughter, who was cut from her mother’s womb and later died. The Texas woman is now the subject of the Netflix true crime documentary “Maternal Instinct,” directed by Jessica Dimmock and executive produced by Liz Garbus.

“What Taylor did was the kind of cold-hearted manipulation that can make your blood run cold,” Dimmock told Fox News Digital. “We don’t think that’s what the danger looks like. God, he’s such a master manipulator. He’s so deceptive. It’s truly unfathomable how far he will go to avoid responsibility. A lot of what happened never had to happen.”

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Simmons-Hancock, an Arkansas native, met Parker while looking for an affordable photographer for her wedding to Homer Hancock. Recommended by a friend, Parker seemed like the perfect choice, and the two quickly struck up a friendship. Their bond grew even stronger when Simmons-Hancock found out she was pregnant with her second child. Parker claimed she was also expecting a baby and told friends and family that she was pregnant with her third child.

However, Parker’s pregnancy was a lie. Few people, including her boyfriend Wade Griffin, knew that she had had a hysterectomy years ago and was unable to have children.

Taylor Parker wore a silicone tampon to indicate she was pregnant. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“Taylor met with Reagan under the premise of bonding over their pregnancy, something they both ‘shared’ at the time,” Dimmock explained. “But of course that’s not true. Only Reagan was pregnant. Only Reagan was in her third trimester.”

Taylor Parker (left) and Reagan Simmons-Hancock (right) bonded over what appears to be a shared pregnancy. However, Parker’s pregnancy was a lie. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Parker staged an elaborate pregnancy hoax that fooled her friends, family, and boyfriend for months. She wore a silicone baby bump, shared fake ultrasound images, arranged medical appointments, and documented her allegedly growing belly on social media. She also threw a gender reveal party, posed for maternity photos and prepared a nursery as if she were expecting a baby girl.

Taylor Parker, who faked her own pregnancy for 10 months, researched how to fake a pregnancy and watched several videos about giving birth to a premature baby at 35 weeks; Reagan had gone this far when Simmons-Hancock was murdered. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Even as cracks began to appear in her story, Parker doubled down on the hoax, fabricating medical records and pregnancy updates to keep the ruse alive. She even used pandemic restrictions to her advantage, telling her boyfriend that COVID-era protocols only allowed one person at prenatal appointments, preventing that person from accompanying her.

The documentary suggested that Parker faked the pregnancy in the hope that it would keep her and Griffin together.

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Taylor Parker and Wade Griffin met at a local rodeo in East Texas in July 2019. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“From where I sit, I’m not sure having a baby is as much of a priority as having a baby is to maintain her relationship,” Dimmock said. “On the surface, that’s the way it is. But underneath the surface, it’s deeper. Something is very wrong. He’s a compulsive liar. He manipulated people long before that happened. There’s something very corrupt and dangerous about his interaction with the world.”

Dr. Christopher Mason opened up about how it might have been impossible for Taylor Parker to get pregnant. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“It’s pretty clear that there were a lot of red flags in the beginning,” Dimmock continued. “It’s pretty obvious that most of the things he says to people don’t make any sense. And yet, he always has the ability to make a statement that throws people off their path. It’s his ability to constantly throw backhanded shots that keep this charade going.”

Dimmock said all those who knew Simmons-Hancock described her as an “exceptional mother,” her sister’s best friend, a loving wife and someone who saw the good in people.

Reagan Simmons-Hancock is seen here with sister Emily Shirey on her wedding day. Taylor Parker was the wedding photographer. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“Reagan was the unsuspecting victim in all of this,” Dimmock said. “Everything fell like a bolt of lightning. Nobody saw it coming.”

Simmons-Hancock, who was in the final weeks of her pregnancy, was found dead in her home on the morning of October 9, 2020. Authorities later said he suffered more than 100 stab wounds and his skull was crushed with a hammer, the Associated Press reported. A scalpel was used to remove her unborn baby, later identified as Braxlynn Sage.

Emily Shirey described her sister Reagan Simmons-Hancock as her best friend. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Simmons-Hancock’s 3-year-old daughter was still on the property at the time of the attack but was not physically harmed.

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Jessica Brookes said her daughter Reagan Simmons-Hancock is overjoyed to welcome a new baby. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Later that day, police stopped Parker on the road for erratic driving. Parker frantically told cops that she had just given birth on the side of the road and that the newborn was not breathing. Emergency responders quickly transported Parker and the baby to the hospital. The baby was pronounced dead on arrival.

McKenzie Bright said she and Taylor Parker were no longer friends when Parker announced her pregnancy, adding that the news came as a surprise. (Courtesy of Netflix)

Medical staff quickly determined that Parker showed no signs of labor. They also revealed that she had no uterus due to a previous hysterectomy. Pregnancy would be biologically impossible. DNA testing revealed that the baby was not his. She was the daughter of Simmons-Hancock. Parker was arrested.

Dimmock said Simmons-Hancock’s family is still struggling with the murder.

Reagan Simmons-Hancock’s stepfather, Marcus Brookes, has spoken out about how the murders deeply affected his family. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“They are an incredible family with an incredible network of support and love around them,” Dimmock said. “But what happened will never make sense. They have an incredibly strong faith, I think that’s part of what helps them. But they’ve made it clear that they wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

In the documentary, Griffin admitted that he struggled with guilt for not spotting any signs of cheating sooner.

Codey Ott said that at first Taylor Parker seemed like an ideal match for his friend Wade Griffin. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“We have the interrogation video and she quickly says her parents told her she couldn’t be pregnant, but she still chose to defend Taylor,” Dimmock said.

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Wade Griffin explained in the documentary that he was uncomfortable with how quickly his relationship with Taylor Parker progressed. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“And when we sit down with him, it’s so clear that he never wanted anything like that to happen. He’s going to have to carry the trauma of being a part of this in the eyes of his community and, I think, in his own heart, for a long time. But in the end, he wasn’t the one who hurt Reagan. He wasn’t the one who was violent with her, and he wasn’t the one who lied.”

Parker faked her pregnancy for 10 months. Dimmock believes Parker, worried about losing Griffin, was “attacked and left helpless.”

Abby Bell says there are red flags about Taylor Parker’s pregnancy that are confusing friends. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“He was panicking,” Dimmock said. “Months later, I don’t think Reagan was the intended victim. I think he was looking at a wide variety of things. But the truth is, what he was trying to do was completely crazy, completely irrational. He was looking at everything from adoptions to forging home birth certificates to stalking pregnant women outside obstetrics-gynecology offices.”

Taylor Parker and McKenzie Bright are seen here before their friendship ended. (Courtesy of Netflix)

“I think Taylor was always thinking one step ahead and never two or more steps ahead. She knew what to do, which was to hold a baby. But I don’t think she really thought about what the next step would be. She clearly didn’t think about the repercussions on anyone else.”

Parker’s attorneys argued the baby was never alive and moved to dismiss the kidnapping charge, which would have reduced the original murder charge to murder, the Associated Press reported. But prosecutors said multiple medical experts testified that the baby had a heartbeat at birth. They also described Parker’s actions leading up to the day Simmons-Hancock was killed.

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Taylor Parker was convicted of capital murder in 2022. (Bi-State Detention Center via AP)

Parker, now 33, is currently on death row in Texas.

“This is the story of an unlikely perpetrator and an unexpected victim under unexpected circumstances,” Dimmock said. “This is a story about how danger doesn’t always look the way we’ve been taught.”