Netflix documentary revisits Taylor Parker's fake pregnancy murder case

A new Netflix documentary, "Maternal Instinct", details how Taylor Parker pretended to be pregnant in order to bolster her relationship with boyfriend Wade Griffin, before killing her pregnant friend to claim the baby as her own.

Reagan Simmons Hancock was a bright light who was always there for anyone who needed help, her sister and mother told PEOPLE. Hancock, 21, of New Boston, Texas, was close to her family and devoted to her husband, Homer Hancock.

A 'mama bear' to her daughter

Hancock was also a "mama bear" who was inseparable from her daughter, Kynlee, her mother, Jessica Brookes, told PEOPLE. Brookes said: "They were each other's world from the beginning."

On 9 October 2020, Taylor Parker, then 27, who had once been Hancock's engagement and wedding photographer, preyed upon her when she was nearly 35 weeks pregnant. Parker killed Hancock for her unborn baby after pretending to be pregnant herself, all to bolster her relationship with her boyfriend.

Parker was convicted in 2022 of capital murder. Now 33, she is sitting on death row in a Texas prison awaiting her execution date.

Family describes devastating loss

Brookes said in the documentary: "It is so hard to put into words what losing a child is like." She added: "Half of me died, and that's not coming back. The Jessica that I used to be is gone and the part that's left is a part that I never knew was there."

Brookes and Shirey were devastated by the murders of Hancock and her unborn daughter, Braxlynn Sage. However, they vow that some good will come out of the tragedy, and are working to enact new legislation to protect pregnant women.

Hancock's sister, Emily Shirey, 24, told PEOPLE: "Then my sister's murder will not have been in vain."

Parker had undergone a hysterectomy

In Parker's case, she had pretended to be pregnant, even though she had undergone a hysterectomy. However, her doctors and other medical professionals who worked with her and knew this were constrained by law to keep that information private.

Dr Christopher Mason, who was Parker's OB/GYN at Northeast Texas Women's Clinic, said in the documentary that he learned Parker had been telling people she was pregnant with boyfriend Wade Griffin's baby, despite knowing she couldn't have children.

Suspicions raised but HIPAA laws prevented disclosure

During her feigned pregnancy, Stephanie Ott, one of Griffin's friends who had grown suspicious of Parker, called the clinic to ask about her. However, HIPAA laws prevented employees from saying anything because Parker had been a patient there.

The clinic employee who knew Parker could never get pregnant told her: "Just go with your gut. Trust your instincts," Ott said in the documentary. "And I left it at that."

After she hung up, Ott spoke to Griffin's mother, Connie Griffin, and the two came to the same conclusion: that there were "so many things that did not add up," she said.

Hospital placed on 'Code Pink' alert

As Parker's fake due date approached, people wondered what she was going to do. Mason said in the documentary: "We felt like she had to come up with a baby somehow. So for the safety of the rest of our patients and our nursery, we did alert the hospital to be on higher alert, what was called Code Pink."

However, Shirey said the Code Pink that was issued wasn't enough. She said: "There should have been a way that something else could have been done."

Parker stopped by police in Oklahoma

Parker was on her way to a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, when she was stopped by police for driving erratically. Body cam footage shows Parker frantically telling officers she had just given birth, and was worried about the baby she claimed was hers, who was limp and pale.

Filmmaker says 'the law really failed this family'

Filmmaker Jessica Dimmock told PEOPLE: "The law really failed this family. Doctors can't go breaking laws. The laws exist for a reason, but it's a real failure to see something happening and know that you're not allowed to do anything about it. And I'm so hopeful that this will inform and possibly change further outcomes. I just really hope that this also shines light on things that are designed to protect us that can also end up having irreparable damage."

Pregnant women 'vulnerable', filmmaker says

While fetal abductions are rare, they pose a danger not just to unborn babies but to pregnant women, Dimmock pointed out. She said: "Pregnant women in this country are vulnerable. Having the law not just be thinking about the unborn or recently born, but also the mother that is carrying that child and what danger she could be in also feels like a huge gap in the law here and a tragically missed moment. It wasn't just Braxlynn who was in danger here, it was Reagan as well."

Family hopes documentary will drive change

Shirey hopes the documentary will help get the word out about the need for laws to protect pregnant women, not only in Texas, but across the country. She said: "We don't want this to just be another true-crime movie that all the binge watchers want to go see because they heard about the crime. We want people to watch it so they say, 'Oh, this is why the family is pushing so hard to get laws passed.'" Maternal Instinct is streaming on Netflix.