A Texas woman accused of killing a woman to steal her unborn baby to present as her own went on trial for capital murder Monday.
Taylor Rene Parker has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and kidnapping in the October 2020 deaths of Regan Michelle Simmons-Hancock, 21, and the daughter who died after being cut from her mother's womb. Authorities say Simmons-Hancock was stabbed and cut more than 100 times and had her skull crushed with a hammer in her New Boston, Texas, home before a scalpel was used to remove her unborn baby.
Parker is also charged with non-capital murder in connection with the baby's death.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told the Bowie County jury Monday that Parker, 29, acted not because she wanted a baby but to keep from losing her boyfriend. Crisp said Parker disguised herself to make her look pregnant for nearly 10 months, faked ultrasounds, had a gender-reveal party and posted about her fake pregnancy on social media while searching for a possible victim, Crisp said.
"How did we get here?" Crisp asked the jury. "How did it get this far? She is an actress, an actress of the highest order. The lies and fraud go on and on; the layers of fraud are staggering. You are going to have to understand the fraud to understand what happened on October 9. This started months and months ahead of time until it passed the point of no return, and it ended up in homicide."