Overview
- Prosecutors say Taylor Parker killed her pregnant friend Reagan Simmons‑Hancock on October 9, 2020, removed the unborn child and was convicted of capital murder and kidnapping in October 2022.
- Netflix’s documentary Maternal Instinct, released June 12, 2026, reignited coverage by assembling court records, victim testimony and newly released audio and documents.
- Director Jessica Dimmock told Netflix’s Tudum that she left out a single psychiatric diagnosis because Parker reportedly entered the case without an established mental‑health label.
- Trial experts gave sharply different views: neuropsychologist Dr. Siddartha Nadkarni testified to frontal‑lobe dysfunction while state experts argued the conduct reflected psychopathy.
- Parker remains on Texas death row with habeas review ongoing and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed she recently faced a disciplinary note for sleeping on the prison floor.