A shocking true crime documentary coming to Netflix has brought the spotlight back to one of the most harrowing murder cases in recent Texas history. The new documentary feature from Story Syndicate – titled Maternal Instinct – is scheduled to premiere globally on June 12.
Directed by Jessica Dimmock, the documentary investigates the harrowing 2020 Texas crime committed by Taylor Rene Parker. The horrifying fetal abduction case, which involved the murder of 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock in New Boston, Texas, bears similarities with Heidi Broussard’s case. Heidi was murdered by her friend, Magen Fieramusca, who faked a pregnancy to steal Heidi’s newborn child.
What happened to Reagan Simmons-Hancock?
The case centers on the tragic murder of Simmons-Hancock. Parker, now 29, faked her own pregnancy for ten months using a silicone belly, forged ultrasounds, and fake gender reveal parties in an effort to keep her boyfriend, Wade Griffin. Parker attacked Simmons-Hancock, an expectant mother, inside her home.
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Parker murdered Simmons-Hancock and performed a crude C-section to steal her unborn baby, Braxlynn Sage, on October 9, 2020. She then fled the scene.
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, “On October 9, 2020, the subject killed a 21-year-old pregnant woman to take her unborn child.”
Parker was eventually pulled over for speeding by a Texas State Trooper in DeKalb. She was found covered in blood and with the deceased infant in her lap.
Parker claimed that she had just given birth on the side of the road, but her lies kept unravelling after she was taken to a nearby Oklahoma hospital, where medical staff found no signs of recent childbirth.
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Parker and Simmons-Hancock reportedly met on the internet and became real-life friends. Parker even took Simmons-Hancock’s engagement pictures in 2019 and later even photographed her wedding.
Where is Taylor Rene Parker now?
A Bowie County jury in November 2022 sentenced Parker to death. She is one of the few women on Texas Death Row. That sentence was recently upheld in November 2025.
Parker is reportedly incarcerated on death row at the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit (formerly known as the Mountain View Unit) in Gatesville, Texas.
Netflix says of the upcoming documentary, “Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren’t hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.”
Maternal Instinct is set to be released shortly after Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard, began streaming on Netflix. The crime drama reconstructs one of America’s most unsettling cases involving a newborn theft and murder.