Baby removed from Texas woman's womb; suspect charged in double-murder
10/15/2020 2:59 pm PDT
UPDATE Oct. 16, 2020:
Taylor Parker, 27 -- charged with capital murder, murder, and kidnapping in the death of 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock and her baby -- confessed to the crime, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KTAL.
The probable cause affidavit on the charges filed in Bowie County Tuesday says when first-responders turned Simmons-Hancock's body over in the living room of her house, they found a very large cut across her abdomen. She had been 34 weeks pregnant.
KTAL-TV reports the affidavit states that when a Texas state trooper pulled Parker over in DeKalb just after 9:30 a.m. that same morning, she had a newborn infant in her lap with “the umbilical cord was connected to the infant, which appeared to be coming out of the female's pants, as if she gave birth to the child.” The child did not survive.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation investigators said Parker told them she was “in a physical altercation with Simmons and abducted the unborn child," and that she used a “small scalpel” to remove the unborn infant. A small scalpel was found in Simmons-Hancock's neck during her autopsy.
TEXARKANA, Texas (KTAL) -- Bond was set at $5 million Thursday morning in Bowie County for a woman accused of murdering a pregnant New Boston mother and removing the baby from her womb.
Taylor Parker, 27, of Simms, is back in Texas to face the charges after waiving extradition from Oklahoma on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. She was booked into the Bowie County Jail.
Parker's bond was set at $2.5 million on a capital murder charge, $1.5 million on a murder charge, and $1 million on a kidnapping charge.
Parker had been held in Idabel, Okla. following her arrest Friday, hours after 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock was found dead inside a home on Austin Street in New Boston, Texas. Her unborn child was missing.
Parker had the baby with her when she was stopped by a Texas DPS trooper in DeKalb around 10 a.m. on Friday. She claimed she had delivered the child, who was not breathing, on the side of the road.
Parker and the baby were taken to McCurtain County Memorial Hospital, where a doctor determined she had not given birth. Attempts were made to resuscitate the baby at the hospital, but they were unsuccessful. The baby's body has been sent for an autopsy in Texas.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Parker removed the unborn baby from 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock, who died as a result of the injuries she sustained.
The Texarkana Gazette reports Simmons-Hancock was about seven and a half months pregnant.
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