Reagan Hancock's House

Author: Jewls Krueger

On the morning of October 9, 2020, 21 year old Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock, who was about 35 weeks pregnant with her second daughter, was attacked and killed inside her home in New Boston, Texas by a woman named Taylor Rene Parker.

Parker, who had been faking a pregnancy of her own for almost ten months in an attempt to keep her boyfriend, cut Reagan's unborn child from her body and fled with the baby toward Oklahoma. The infant, named Braxlynn Sage Hancock, did not survive. Reagan's three year old daughter was in the home at the time of the attack but was not physically harmed.

Reagan Hancock and Taylor Parker

Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock was born November 14, 1998 and grew up in the small Northeast Texas town of New Boston. She was a wife and mother, married to Homer Hancock and the mother of a three year old daughter named Kynlee Grace. By the fall of 2020, she was about a month away from giving birth to her second daughter, Braxlynn Sage, who was due on November 10. Family members would later describe Reagan as warm and inclusive, the kind of person who made everyone feel welcome. Her favorite flower was the sunflower.

Taylor Rene Parker was a 27 year old freelance wedding photographer from Titus County, Texas. She was the mother of two children of her own from earlier relationships, but had undergone a hysterectomy and could not conceive again. By late 2019, she was dating a man named Wade Griffin and had grown increasingly desperate to keep him from leaving her. She told him she was pregnant, and over the course of nearly ten months she faked the pregnancy in elaborate detail, including using prosthetics to appear pregnant, posting fake ultrasounds on social media, and even holding a gender reveal party.

Parker had first crossed paths with Reagan Hancock in September 2019, when Parker photographed her wedding. According to Reagan's family, Parker inserted herself into the celebration and acted like a close friend. Through the following year, as Parker's deception with Griffin escalated, she settled on Reagan and her unborn baby as a way out.

The Morning of the Attack

On the morning of October 9, 2020, Parker told Griffin that she was driving to a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma to be induced into labor. Instead, she drove to Reagan Hancock's home in New Boston, where Reagan and her three year old daughter Kynlee were home alone.

Around 7:30 a.m., Parker attacked Reagan inside the home. She used a hammer, a knife, and a scalpel she had brought with her. Reagan tried to escape and fought back. After Reagan was killed, Parker performed a crude cesarean section to remove the unborn baby, then left the home, leaving Kynlee hiding in a back bedroom.

Just after 10 a.m., Reagan's mother Jessica Brookes arrived at the home, found her daughter, and called 911. Officers from the New Boston Police Department responded to the scene on Austin Street, where they discovered Reagan's body and her unharmed daughter.

That same morning, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled Parker over along U.S. Highway 82 in nearby De Kalb, Texas, for speeding and driving erratically. He found the baby unresponsive in Parker's lap, with the umbilical cord still attached. Parker claimed she had given birth on the side of the road. Both were taken to McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, where staff quickly grew suspicious when Parker refused a medical exam. Baby Braxlynn Sage Hancock was pronounced dead at the hospital. Parker was arrested.

Taylor Parker's Trial and Conviction

Taylor Parker's Mugshot - Public Domain

Taylor Parker's capital murder trial began September 12, 2022 before a Bowie County jury in New Boston, Texas. Prosecutors Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards argued that Parker had killed Reagan in a desperate attempt to keep Griffin from leaving her. The defense, led by attorney Jeff Harrelson, did not dispute that Parker had been at the scene but argued that the unborn baby had not been "born alive" within the meaning of Texas law and therefore could not legally be kidnapped. The defense also pursued a mental illness mitigation strategy in the penalty phase.

On October 3, 2022, after about an hour of deliberation, the jury found Parker guilty of capital murder. On November 9, 2022, after another roughly one hour of deliberation, the same jury sentenced her to death. Reagan's mother Jessica Brookes addressed Parker directly at the sentencing hearing, calling her an "evil piece of flesh demon."

Parker's direct appeals have since been exhausted. On October 7, 2025, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld her conviction and death sentence. On May 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take her case. She remains on death row at the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, with no execution date set as her case continues through habeas corpus review.

Reagan Hancock's Home Today

The Hancock home sits on Austin Street in New Boston, a small Northeast Texas town of roughly 4,600 people about 160 miles northeast of Dallas and just west of Texarkana. It is a modest residential property on a quiet street in a small town neighborhood.

In the days after Reagan's death, friends, neighbors, and members of the community left sunflowers, stuffed animals, and other tributes outside the home in her honor. The property remains a private residence today. Please be respectful of the current occupants, Reagan's surviving family, and the surrounding neighborhood, stay on public roads at all times, and do not trespass under any circumstances.