A Texas woman previously charged with the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a pregnant woman was indicted last week on another murder charge in the death of the baby. 28-year-old Taylor Parker was indicted by a grand jury Thursday for capital murder in the death of the baby, Braxlynn Sage, whom she ripped from the womb of her mother.
Parker was originally indicted for murder in the death of 21-year-old Reagan Hancock, Braxlynn’s mother, and for kidnapping the infant. The infant’s case wasn’t brought to a grand jury earlier because prosecutors were still awaiting a final report from the coroner on her death. However, prosecutors are now seeking the death penalty, per the Gazette.
Parker, who entered a plea of not guilty at a Friday arraignment, is currently remanded in custody without bail at Bowie County Jail as she awaits a hearing scheduled for April. In October, Parker was arrested in Oklahoma on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping after authorities found Hancock dead in her New Boston, Texas residence on October 9. “The preliminary investigation indicated an unborn child had been removed from the victim’s body,” a New Boston Police Department press release stated.
Parker was speeding after the alleged attack and was pulled over by a Texas State Trooper in De Kaib, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Chad Dansby told People. “She claimed she had just given birth and the baby wasn’t breathing,” he added.
Parker and the baby were rushed to McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel, Oklahoma, where staff became suspicious after she refused to be checked out by doctors.
“She didn’t want them to check her,” Dansby continued. “We were told that, so I talked her into letting the doctor check. They called the doctor and he pretty much told us she didn’t have a baby. It was just a matter of getting her to tell us what happened.”
During an interview with Parker, Dansby was able to obtain enough probable cause to detain her. The baby died at the hospital, and Parker was arrested by Idabel Police and OSBI.
A PayPal donation fund was set up to raise money for Hancock’s husband Homer and their daughter. According to the page, the expectant mother and her accused killer were friends.
“Reagan Hancock and her unborn baby were selfishly killed by someone Reagan considered a friend,” the page read. “We are trying to raise money for Homer and their daughter. Let’s rally together and raise enough money to take any stress off him for any and all expenses that will occur.”
Just months before she was killed, Hancock happily announced her pregnancy on Facebook. “(S)ome of you know, some of you don’t… but we are having another SWEET BABYGIRL come November the 10th (give or take). She already acts like her daddy & big sister. We cannot wait for our Braxlynn Sage to be here. Daddy is definitely outnumbered,” she wrote in August.
