Netflix is going to release a new true crime documentary Maternal Instinct on June 12, 2026. It has turned attention not only to convicted killer Taylor Parker but to the young woman whose life was taken. Reagan Simmons-Hancock was 21 years old when she was murdered in her own home in New Boston, Texas, in October 2020.
Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock was born on November 14, 1998. She grew up in New Boston, a small town in east Texas. She was 35 weeks pregnant at the time of her death on October 9, 2020.
A young mother who was killed by her friend
Reagan married her husband Homer Hancock, and the couple already had a three-year-old daughter. They were expecting their second child, a girl they had named Braxlynn Sage.
Reagan had met Taylor Parker online and the two had become real-life friends. Parker photographed Reagan’s engagement pictures in 2019 and later photographed her wedding.
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On October 8, 2020, the day before the murder, Parker delivered Starbucks and a baby gift to the seven-and-a-half-month pregnant Reagan at her home. The following morning, Parker returned and killed her.
Three-year-old kid was home when she was killed
Parker attacked Reagan with a hammer and a knife before cutting her open and removing her unborn daughter, Braxlynn Sage. Reagan’s three-year-old daughter was in the house at the time of the attack.
Reagan was found dead in her home by her mother on the morning of October 9, 2020. She had been stabbed over 100 times, strangled, and had her unborn child removed from her womb.
Trial testimony from Dallas County Medical Examiner, Dr Melinda Flores, revealed that Reagan had sustained well over 100 stab wounds, at least 39 of which were to her head. Her skull had been fractured in five different places.
Reagan’s family spoke out after Parker’s conviction in 2022. At sentencing, a family member addressed Parker directly in court, saying, “You are an evil piece of flesh demon.”
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Parker was sentenced to death on November 9, 2022. She remains on death row in Texas as of June 2026. The Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct, directed by Jessica Dimmock, revisits the story of what happened to Reagan and how Parker’s deception ultimately led to her friend’s death.
