A Texas woman was sentenced to death on Wednesday for murdering another woman and trying to take her unborn baby in October 2020.
Taylor Parker, 29, was convicted last month for the slaying of 21-year-old Michelle Simmons-Hancock, whose baby later died at a hospital after being cut out of her mother’s womb.
Simmons-Hancock’s mother, Jessica Brooks, called Parker an “evil piece of flesh demon” during a victim impact statement on Wednesday.
“My baby was alive still fighting for her babies when you tore her open and ripped her baby from her stomach,” Brooks said, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
This photo provided by the Bi-State Detention Center in Texarkana, Texas, shows Taylor Parker. Parker was convicted of capital murder, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, for killing a pregnant woman to take her unborn baby. (Bi-State Detention Center via AP, File)
(Bi-State Detention Center via AP, File)
Prosecutors argued during the three-week trial that Parker disguised herself to appear pregnant, faked ultrasounds, and even had a gender-reveal party in an attempt to stay with her boyfriend.
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She also watched numerous YouTube videos about delivering and caring for infants. On the day of the murder, she watched a video on the physical exam of a baby born pre-term at 35 weeks. Her victim, Simmons-Hancock, was 35 weeks pregnant when she was murdered.
The Bowie County Courthouse, where Taylor Parker was sentenced to death on Wednesday.
(Google Maps)
The jury of six men and six women deliberated for just over an hour before returning the death sentence.
“You have been found guilty of capital murder and punished by Texas law to death. I formally sentence you to death,” the judge told Parker, according to the Texarkana Gazette, before instructing the bailiff to take her out of the courtroom. “Take her to death row.”
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Parker’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
