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East Texas woman sentenced to death for murdering woman, cutting baby from womb

According to KTBS, after just 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury handed down the punishment for Taylor Parker.

BOWIE COUNTY, Texas — **EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from Oct. 2020.

An East Texas woman has been sentenced to death by a Bowie County jury.

According to KTBS, after just 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury handed down the punishment for Taylor Parker.

Parker, 29, was convicted of murdering Reagan Simmons-Hancock, 22, on Oct. 9, 2020. Simmons-Hancock was seven-and-a-half months pregnant when she was attacked at a home in the 200 block of Austin St. in New Boston. Parker also cut the unborn baby from Simmons-Hancock's womb. The baby did not survive.

Parker was taken into custody the same day in Idabel, OK, in connection with the crime. 

According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), law enforcement was notified Parker had arrived at McCurtain Memorial Hospital Friday morning with a baby she said she had just given birth to on the side of the road. OSBI Agents and Idabel Detectives went to the hospital and learned Parker had been stopped by a Texas State Trooper in DeKalb. 

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The OSBI says Parker told the trooper she just had the baby and the baby wasn’t breathing. At that point, she and the baby were taken to the hospital in McCurtain County where the baby was pronounced dead. 

"Based on the investigation that was taking place in Oklahoma and Texas, Parker was arrested for the murder and kidnapping of the baby and she was booked into the Idabel City Jail," the OSBI said in a statement. "This morning, Parker was taken before a judge in McCurtain County District Court. She waived extradition to Texas on two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. She will remain in the Idabel City jail awaiting transport back to Texas. This investigation has been a collaborative effort between the OSBI, Idabel Police Department, New Boston, Texas, Police Department and the Texas Rangers."

KTBS reports Parker will be transferred to the Mountain View Correctional Unit in Gatesville to await her execution.

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