Netflix doc Maternal Instinct covers Texas death row murder

A Texas woman convicted of murdering a pregnant acquaintance and stealing her unborn child in 2020 remains on death row following the release of a new documentary examining the case. Taylor Parker, now 33, was found guilty of capital murder in 2022 for the killing of 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock in New Boston, Texas. The documentary, "Maternal Instinct," began streaming on Netflix on June 12, 2026, revisiting the shocking crime and the elaborate deception that preceded it.

According to evidence presented at trial, Parker spent months fabricating a pregnancy to her boyfriend, Wade Griffin, and others. Prosecutors said she used a prosthetic belly, forged medical documents, and staged a gender reveal party to support the false claim, despite having undergone a hysterectomy years earlier that made pregnancy impossible. As her supposed due date approached in late 2020, her deception began to unravel.

The crime occurred on October 9, 2020. Authorities determined that Parker attacked Simmons-Hancock, who was nine months pregnant, inside her home. The victim suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma, and her unborn child was surgically removed. Simmons-Hancock's...