NEW BOSTON, Texas – The state announced on Friday that it would apply for the death penalty for a woman accused of murdering a New Boston mother-to-be and removing her unborn baby from her body in October.

Taylor Parker, also known as Taylor Morton and Taylor Wacasey, appeared before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell with Texarkana attorney Jeff Harrelson on Friday morning at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston. Harrelson pleaded not guilty to the charges on Parker’s behalf.

Bowie County’s District Attorney Jerry Rochelle told the court his office would seek the death penalty for Parker at Reagan Hancock’s death, citing the horror and brutality of the crime, the alleged months of resolutions and planning, and the alleged lack of Repentance through Parker. Rochelle said the decision was made after careful deliberation between prosecutors and the surviving family of Reagan Hancock and her little girl.

First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp asked the court to revoke Parker’s existing $ 5 million loan, as Texas law allows for capital murder accused facing the death penalty. Harrelson’s objection to Parker without bond caused Tidwell to prepare the matter for a hearing on the matter on March 5th.

Until then, Parker will remain in Bowie County’s custody.

Parker looked down or to the side for most of her hearing, a red mask and long hair covering her face.

The capital murder charge includes the death of Reagan Michelle Simmons Hancock, while the kidnapping charge includes the kidnapping of the unborn child Braxlynn Sage Hancock. Information pending against Parker on the murder of the baby’s death, filed earlier this year by First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp, is pending.

Crisp mentioned the pending indictment at the hearing on Friday.

“She was not formally charged on these charges because, at the time of the previous grand jury, the necessary information had not been provided by the medical examiner,” said Crisp. “I spoke directly to the director of the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences (SWIFS) and the chief medical officer said he expected the final report to be ready in the next few weeks.”

Crisp said a Bowie County grand jury is expected to meet in early February and is hoping to bring the case against Parker, which includes the baby’s death, to formal indictment.

Tidwell formally appointed Mount Pleasant attorney Mac Cobb as vice chairman on defense with Harrelson. Harrelson was named head of the defense team last year. The hearing on Friday also discussed procedural plans to carefully document the exchange of evidence, as well as a timeline for the status and pre-trial hearings in the case. A date for the start of the selection of the jury was not discussed.

Parker, 27, reportedly attacked 21-year-old Reagan Hancock at her New Boston home on the morning of October 9, according to a possible affidavit. A Texas soldier drew Parker just after 9:30 a.m. that morning in DeKalb, Texas, near the Oklahoma border. Parker reportedly performed CPR on the little girl in her lap and the umbilical cord appeared to be coming out of her pants. Parker allegedly claimed to have delivered the child on the side of the road.

An ambulance took Parker and the baby to McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, where the baby was pronounced deceased and doctors determined that Parker had not given birth.

The soldier first contacted Parker on October 9 at 9:37 a.m. At about 10:20 a.m. that morning, Hancock’s mother discovered her daughter’s body in the living room of the house that Hancock shared with her husband and 3-year-old daughter in New Boston.

When Hancock’s mother called 911 on the morning of October 9th, she “yelled that someone had killed her baby”.

A large amount of blood was found all over the house on the floor, furniture, walls, appliances, and other items. Hancock was found face down on the living room floor. After Hancock found out about 34 weeks, just six weeks before a full-time pregnancy, paramedics were asked to check the status of the unborn child.

When LifeNet staff turned Hancock over, they found a large cut in her stomach and stated that the baby had been removed.

Parker allegedly confessed to an investigator with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that she was not pregnant and admitted that he was in an “argument” with Hancock.

“Parker used a small scalpel to remove the unborn child from the body,” the affidavit read.

During an autopsy by a medical examiner in Dallas, a small scalpel was found in Hancock’s neck that was not visible to investigators at the scene.

Parker and Reagan Hancock were friends. Reagan Hancock had posted a sonogram photo on the social media website with a due date in early November in the months leading up to her death. The lucky entry included a name for the baby, Braxlynn Sage Hancock.

Parker reportedly convinced her boyfriend that she was pregnant and made frequent social media posts in support of her claim. The boyfriend told police that prior to Parker’s fictional October 9, the couple held a gender reveal party to celebrate the arrival of a baby who never really existed. The friend reported that he was expecting to meet Parker, 27, at noon on October 9 at a hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, for a planned induced childbirth and delivery.

Parker, working as Taylor Wacasey, is thousands behind in child support for the father of a son she gave birth in 2013, according to a civil lawsuit filed October 19 by the Texas Attorney General in Bowie County. The Motion Accuses Parker Parker allegedly failed to make a monthly payment of $ 225 to support her son as ordered as of March 1, 2018. Parker is reportedly more than $ 7,600 behind in payments and interest.

Bowie County court records indicate that Parker divorced a man surnamed Wacasey in March 2018 and received a marriage license the following month to marry a man surnamed Parker. In July 2019, Taylor Parker’s marriage to Parker ended in divorce in Bowie County.

There were no children from this marriage. Parker reportedly has a daughter who is older than her son and has a different father.