A woman accused of killing a woman last October and kidnapping her unborn child was in court Thursday for a pretrial hearing in her capital murder case.
Taylor Rene Parker, 28, is charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of kidnapping in the Oct. 9, 2020, murder of Regan Hancock and abduction and death of her unborn daughter. The state is seeking the death penalty.
Parker allegedly intended to pass Hancock’s baby off as her own and had fooled her boyfriend into believing she was pregnant. According to probable cause documents, the couple held a gender reveal party and the boyfriend thought Parker was going to have a planned, induced birth at a hospital in Oklahoma the day that Hancock, 21, was discovered dead in her home in New Boston.
Her child had been forcibly removed from her body.
Parker was in court Thursday afternoon for a pretrial hearing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
Texarkana defense attorney Jeff Harrelson and First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp discussed progress on evidence being tested at the state crime lab and expert witnesses. Tidwell said he understands that the defense has plans to file a motion to change venue for Parker’s trial.
Tidwell instructed the defense to file the motion by the next pretrial hearing in December and scheduled a hearing for Jan. 6, 2022, to hear arguments about whether the case should go to trial in Bowie County or another location.
The state is taking the capital murder case involving the mother’s death to trial first. If convicted, Parker faces death or life without parole. She is currently being held in the Bowie County jail without bond.
