Where is Taylor Parker now? Netflix documentary 'Maternal Instinct' revisits how she faked her pregnancy - and ended up on death row.
Yahoo • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Netflix's documentary "Maternal Instinct," released on June 12, 2026, explores the 2020 Texas murder case of Taylor Parker, who became the youngest woman on Texas's death row after killing Reagan Simmons-Hancock and forcibly removing her baby to fake a pregnancy.
- Parker was arrested shortly after the crime, convicted of capital murder and kidnapping in 2022, and is currently held at the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas; her appeals have been denied, and execution is pending habeas corpus review.
- Parker had two children prior to the crime; custody of her son went to his father, and her mother gained custody of her daughter following Parker's conviction.
- Wade Griffin, Parker's boyfriend, faced a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Simmons-Hancock's widower, alleging Griffin's reckless driving contributed to the infant's death and holding him partially responsible.
- Simmons-Hancock's family is advocating for new legislation to enable medical professionals to warn others about women faking pregnancies, aiming to close legal privacy gaps that hindered intervention in this case.
