Loading summary
Transcript42 lines
- [00:00]
A
You know what's crazy? There's actually bread, pastries, even noodles out there that you can enjoy and you don't have that guilt trip of eating junk food. And they're honestly not that bad for you. I'm actually traveling right now, but I have a hero bread box waiting for me back in Nashville, and I am genuinely looking forward to getting home and trying everything from their white bread to their everything bagels. Herobred makes products that look delicious while focusing on high quality ingredients, including prebiotic fibers that are good for your gut. Why do you think it's so important to go with your gut? Your gut has to be healthy. Herobred is a breath of fresh air. Their products contain zero grams of sugar and are sweetened with alternatives to traditional sugar. One thing that actually really caught my attention is their seeded bread. It has just 60 calories per serving compared to other brands that have around 110 calories per serving. If you're like me and have to be mindful of nuts, I'm allergic to quite a few. Herobred also offers products like their white bread, spinach and herb tortillas and croissants without nuts. And they don't stop at just bread. They have pasta too. So I can already tell you one of the first things I'm making when I get home is penne al arrabbiata. And if you've got a little sweet tooth, Herobread has options there as well, including treats like their pain au chocolate. If you're looking for a smarter way to enjoy bread, pastries and pasta without sacrificing the taste, join me on this better bread journey. I'll keep you posted on what I like after I open my box. Herobred is offering 10% off your order, so go to Hero Co and use code dwcrime at checkout. That's dwcrimehero Co. You know what's crazy? There's actually bread, pastries, even noodles out there that you can enjoy and you don't have that guilt trip of eating junk food. And they're honestly not that bad for you. I'm actually traveling right now, but I have a hero bread box waiting for me back in Nashville, and I am genuinely looking forward to getting home and trying everything from their white bread to their everything bagels. Herobred makes products that look delicious while focusing on high quality ingredients, including prebiotic fibers that are good for your gut. Why do you think it's so important to go with your gut? Your gut has to be healthy. Herobred is a breath of fresh air. Their products contain 0 grams of sugar and are sweetened with alternatives to traditional sugar. One thing that actually really caught my attention is their seeded bread. It has just 60 calories per serving compared to other brands that have around 110 calories per serving. If you're like me and have to be mindful of nuts, I'm allergic to quite a few. Herobred also offers products like their white bread, spinach and herb tortillas and croissants without nuts. And they don't stop at just bread. They have pasta, too. So I can already tell you one of the first things I'm making when I get home is penne al arrabbiata. And if you've got a little sweet tooth, Herobread has options there as well, including treats like their pain au chocolate. If you're looking for a smarter way to enjoy bread, pastries, and pasta without sacrificing the taste, join me on this better bread journey. I'll keep you posted on what I like after I open my box. Herobred is offering 10% off your order, so go to Hero Co and use code DWCRIME at checkout. That's D W crimehero.co New Boston 911.
- [03:30]
B
What's your emergency, ma'?
- [03:34]
A
Am?
- [03:36]
B
Ma'? Am? My daughter's been murdered. Okay. Where are you located?
- [03:42]
A
At.
- [03:46]
B
Boston? Yeah. What happened? I don't know. Somebody got in her house. Okay. So criminal.
- [03:56]
A
A small Texas town is keeping a secret. What began as a fantasy on social media turned deadly when one woman took it too far. And the laws designed to protect patients privacy ended up protecting a lie instead, Leaving the people who knew the truth legally unable to say a word. I'm Lyndon Blake, and you're listening to that's so criminal.
- [04:24]
B
That's so criminal.
- [04:30]
A
New Boston is a tiny town in northeast Texas. It's near the Oklahoma and Arkansas border. It's known for the Red River Army Depot, its deep railroad history, and now for a reason, the town shutters at the mention of in 2020. While much of the country was focused on a pandemic and lockdowns, this Texas town was rocked by one woman with too many lies to count. Taylor Parker was a girl in her 20s. Well liked, well spoken. She had an endearing country draw to her friends. She had a big heart. She was someone people liked being around. Her new boyfriend, Wade Griffin, liked her, too. Wade and Taylor quickly became inseparable. It wasn't long before she was living with him at his place, and he Liked having her there. She cooked. She pulled her weight. She let him do the blue collar farm work that he loved. Taylor and Wade were just another happy couple sharing their life on social media. Until one day, Taylor announced she was pregnant with Wade's baby. That pregnancy announcement caught everyone who'd known Taylor for years completely off guard. Because Taylor can't get pregnant after having her first two kids, who she doesn't even have custody of. She had a hysterectomy. Taylor Parker could never be pregnant again. Her doctors knew it. The receptionists at the doctor's office knew it. But how could they tell Wade or anyone else who started asking questions? They couldn't. Medical privacy laws meant her doctor was prohibited from sharing that information with Wade or with anyone. They held the one piece of proof that could have instantly shattered Taylor's lie. But they were effectively silenced. So Taylor kept faking it. Fake pictures, fake bump, fake nursery. Everything about her at this point was fake. From the money she made to the family, she claimed. Eventually, word starts spreading around this small town that Taylor Parker is a liar and there is no baby. Don't get me wrong. Old acquaintances of Taylor's told Wade's mother and friends that this was all a hoax. But. But Taylor, like the lying professional she was, just kept doubling down on the fake narrative. And Wade believed her. As the due date approached, Taylor's new tactic was to buy time. How? Well, by doing exactly what you expect from a psycho who fabricated her entire life, she set part of Wade's property on fire. She even called a bomb threat into the hospital. But her final plan, to land this fake baby was the worst thing imaginable. When the town turned their back on Taylor, one person was still there for her. Reagan Simmons Hancock, who hired Taylor as her wedding photographer a couple years back. Reagan was already a mother, and she was 36 weeks pregnant with her second baby. She wanted to be a friend to Taylor. The only problem was, Taylor didn't want a friend. She wanted a baby. On October 9, 2020, Taylor Parker went to Reagan's home in New Boston and attacked Reagan. She cut her daughter, a little girl her family had already named Braxland, out of her belly. Reagan died on the floor, and Braxland died later that same day. Sometimes word spreading like wildfire in a small town can be a bad thing. But not this time. The whole town quickly knew that Taylor Parker was behind the heinous murders of Reagan and her baby. Taylor tried to act like she had her baby on the side of the road, but thankfully, her lies finally Hit a dead end. Taylor couldn't lie her way out of the Capitol murder trial. And on November 9, 2022, Taylor Parker was sentenced to death. That's where the public story of this ends, but it's where our episode begins. Here's my interview with Jessica Brooks, the mother of Reagan Simmons Hancock. We dive into what happened the morning of her daughter's murder, how Jessica knows Reagan fought back, whether Jessica will be present at Taylor's execution, and the law she's trying to pass so that doctors can share personal information when it could save a life. Jessica, thank you so much for talking
- [09:06]
B
about
- [09:08]
A
one of the worst stories I've ever heard of in my life about being quite honest. I know it's been six years, but how are you doing?
- [09:19]
B
We're doing okay. Like you said, it's been six years, but for us, it's almost like it was yesterday. It's so unimaginable. You have to remind yourself daily that it's real. You know, it did happen, and it can happen, and it could happen again.
- [09:32]
A
You didn't know or Reagan didn't know of her at all prior to getting her to photograph her wedding, Correct?
- [09:39]
B
Correct. The year before Reagan found her and she. Yes, that's correct. She had photographed the wedding for her. Reagan had reached out to her, you know, they kind of stayed in touch, I believe, you know, after the wedding. And then when Reagan found out she was pregnant again, she had reached out and had asked if she would do her maternity pictures. I actually still have Reagan and Kenley's dresses or Reagan's dress that they were going to have pictures done in. And so she said, yes, of course. And then as time went on and she's having these difficulties in her pregnancy, and it's a, you know, she's in and out of the hospital and all this. And she told Reagan, you know, I'm not going to be able to do it. I'm sick. And, of course, Reagan felt terrible for her. You know, she's pregnant, and, you know, she's worried about the baby and, you know, so. But, yes, we did not know anything of her the year before. Met her for the wedding. She hung out after the wedding. You know, we're just kind of a family. We just kind of take people in. I didn't see anything wrong. You know, I kind of had some weird feelings when Reagan told me, you know, she didn't have her kids. She was having trouble with her kids, dads. And I was like, well, that's. I mean, what. What is going on? But I just kind of let it go. She's just perfectly normal, very nice, very well spoken and fun country girl.
- [11:11]
A
It looked like Reagan fought back from. Based off the blood was everywhere, even on her wedding sand jar. I mean, it looked like she fought back. What do you. Was there something you could tell from the investigators? That there was like, she did fight back. It seemed like she died after the baby was taken from her, from that blood loss.
- [11:34]
B
She. She fought. And that's what they told us from the beginning. Reagan fought with everything she had. And the reason, I think pretty much the reason we really know that she was still alive was because her nail, her fingernail was still in the placenta. And so that just told them that she was trying to hold on with everything she had to save her babies. And it's very disturbing. You know, I don't. I hate to be so graphic, but it's just. She was alive, Reagan. All of that, all of the wounds and the, you know, the head trauma that she endured and that she was alive. I always told everybody, she's a mama bear. I mean, she was all about her babies. They were her world. Taylor tried to frame another woman while she was in jail, waiting on trial by writing a letter from this other inmate. And the letter, you know, went into detail about the struggle, the battle, the fight, everything. What stood out to me was Reagan was on the floor. Her daughter came into the room, you know, and Reagan's telling her, get the phone, call daddy, tell him we're not okay, you know, and the baby's gone. I can't. And she's only three, you know, I can't, I can't. And about that time, the letter states that the person attacking Reagan turned toward her daughter. And immediately Reagan jumps up and says, do not touch her. Stay away from her. So, you know, even through all of that, she had enough in her to stand up and to try to protect that baby.
- [13:20]
A
Wait, an inmate wrote that about what Taylor told her?
- [13:24]
B
No, Taylor wrote it to try to sign the inmate's name to it, to make it look like that inmate was confessing, to get, you know, to say that she had done it.
- [13:35]
A
You're saying that after Taylor cut the baby out, she was going to go after the three year old?
- [13:42]
B
No, it was amongst the fight, apparently, before all of that happened. Yes.
- [13:47]
A
I mean, you mentioned head trauma. Did Taylor try to knock her out first?
- [13:52]
B
Oh, yeah. I don't really know how the sequences. When. I haven't read all of, you know, Reagan's injuries. I haven't read all of that, but we know that she had, I believe, a tire iron that she had brought in. She had a claw hammer. I believe the jar that you see in the video, Reagan's jar, which we made for her, she used that at one point to try to. Yeah, to try to knock her out.
- [14:22]
A
So I just know it feels good to know that, I mean, it was your daughter, you raised her and that she did do everything she could and she did protect her three year old daughter. I mean, that is incredible. In the documentary, it said that everyone involved kind of doesn't talk to each other because it's just sad.
- [14:47]
B
Yeah.
- [14:47]
A
Is that still true today?
- [14:49]
B
Well, and I think that's referring more to the people that do. I think that a lot of those people are living with so much guilt that they don't want to revisit it. I've talked with Wade's mom a few times. Just, you know, just, hi, how are you? Stuff like that. It's a small town. That's so criminal.
- [15:11]
A
Will Jessica Brooks attend Taylor Parker's execution? And has she forgiven Taylor for what she did to her daughter? I am from a very small town, so I related this documentary a lot. And it is just like, how in the world did everyone know but this still happened.
- [15:40]
B
And, and yeah, it's. It's the most horrible, unimaginable thing. You know, people could see something coming. You never imagined this, but they knew that something was going on. And. And I don't blame any of them. I absolutely do not. You know, the friends, they tried to reach out, they tried to figure out how to let, you know, everyone know that it was a lie.
- [16:04]
A
Yeah. I feel like Wade is catching some blame from the documentary just being like, how did you not go? I mean, she was living with you. How did you not figure it out? How did you not open the bathroom door on her? Like, how did you not do that? But you're saying, I mean, you don't, you don't blame him for anything.
- [16:25]
B
I don't. I mean, he had never had kids before, never dealt with a pregnant person before. You know, number one. Number two, look at everything else she did. Look at all of the lies and the manipulation and, you know, all of that and, you know, opening the door on her and stuff. You say that, well, a lot of these country guys are gentlemen in a way, you know, and so they're not just going to bust in on a woman if she doesn't want to be bothered, basically. You know, that's kind of how I think of it sometimes. Not. Not every Man's just going to open the door and come in and look at you, you know, if you don't want to be looked at. And she just, she had it figured out. She knew how to make him believe that she was pregnant and then also how to keep him from knowing. You know, it's just he had never dealt with a pregnancy before. He didn't know what a woman was supposed to be going through. You know, he didn't know how they were supposed to look or anything. So, no, I can't blame him.
- [17:26]
A
How do you think something like this could be prevented?
- [17:31]
B
Sure, I believe. We believe that, you know, having a process in place, you know, like the doctor said, there comes a point when a person is lying about the pregnancy that, you know, okay, they're this far along, they can have a miscarriage, you know, they can, you know, they can lose the baby, whatever, but once it gets to a point that they continue the lie into the danger zone is what we're calling it of you have to produce a baby or you have to admit that you're lying. The professionals, family, anybody that has an idea of this should be able to record it, whether it be a friend to the medical providers that can go to the authorities or the medical providers that are aware of what's happening can report it to authorities. We would really like to see something in place that once it's reported that maybe they have a mandatory mental evaluation that goes straight into, you know, psychology and what's going on psychologically with these people, they still are going to have their privacy as far as patient, doctor and, you know, whatnot. But there has to be a point that they can't use hipaa, you know, to get away with it because she knew, she knew that the doctors could not tell anyone that she wasn't pregnant. You know, she bought the novelty items. The pregnancy belly, in which I just found out yesterday, there are pregnancy bellies that have a kicking mechanism in them. People are asking, well, you know, these people felt it. Well, there's a belly that has that. I don't know if that's the one she had or not, but they're there. The document she was able to fake, you know, putting the clinic name and her name and all that in there, the ultrasounds, you know, I mean, there's got to be a penalty for this. So, you know, we're. We're really, we're hoping and praying that these laws are able to get drafted up into a way that it protects these families and these women and babies and unborn Babies.
- [19:36]
A
The laws that you're trying to get changed, what stage are they in right now?
- [19:40]
B
Here, in very early stages, we have drafted a proposal and all that. What's it called? The Reagan and Braxland Hancock Protection act is what we're calling it, but that's kind of what we submitted it as. And it covers, you know, it covers the laws as far as for the fraud prevention. If they get caught lying about a pregnancy and get gifts, you know, have a say, they have a baby shower and they have gifts given and they're caught, they can be criminally prosecuted for that. You know, just all kinds of things. We've tried to try to hit on everything from state to federal levels. Reagan deserves to be known for the hero that she was as far as protecting her babies, for the strong mother and the person that cared and loved others. You know, we don't like doing it, bringing attention to the person that killed her. I don't. And in my. In my impact statement, I told her the only time that I would mention her name again was to let people know how evil she was. And that's what the point of this is.
- [20:48]
A
Well, I think that's very brave and honorable because, again, people are like, how. How did you do the documentary? Why would you want to do this? Why would you want to bring attention to this? I don't think people understand. When this first came out, before I even watched it, there were so many people online being like, thank goodness this case is getting some attention, because it is vile and it could happen again. And so stuff needs to change from it.
- [21:12]
B
Marcus and I talked, you know, and he supports me 100% in everything. He's so awesome. But, you know, we talked, and it's like, why? Why let somebody else tell my baby story? You know, I. That's my daughter. You know, she is mine. Nobody knows her like we did, you know, and we had to be the ones to tell it. And, you know, not every case you mention that it's going to happen again, and it's happened so many times before already that didn't get a lot of attention. 2015, in Colorado, a woman was attacked. Her baby was taken. She survived miraculously. 20, 20, 22. During the trial for Reagan, right after the guilty phase, guilt, innocent phase, a woman was killed in north Arkansas. And, you know, they took her baby. And, I mean, it's just. It happened.
- [22:06]
A
I know families have the options to go to the execution. Is that something you think you guys will do?
- [22:13]
B
I think so. You know, at first, I was absolute. Yes, we're going to be there. And then I talked to my husband shortly after the documentary came out, actually, and I was like, do you think we need to go? Because Reagan didn't have anybody with her when she died. You know, she was alone. And my husband's like, you want her to know that we know what she did. We know what she was. And, you know, Will will possibly be the last person people that she see, the people that she hurt so terribly. Well, we are Christian, and we do hope that she asked the Lord for forgiveness. And, you know, my daughter made a statement that you can be forgiven, just not by us. She wasn't meaning that we don't need to forgive. She meant that our forgiveness for her doesn't make a difference for her. She has to get that forgiveness from God and deal with him. We just want to be sure that their lives aren't the devil, that Satan and she do not get the last say in their lives or their deaths.
- [23:20]
A
Well, I think you are doing a great job. I think you've been a great witness in the documentary. And even with this interview about, you know, you were living a nightmare, but you have joy. I know that comes from the Lord, and I. I just know you ask him for strength every day to get through. And I'm going to keep praying for you guys, and I will keep following this law as well. So if there's anything else I can do, just let me know.
- [23:48]
B
I sure will. Thank you so much. And thank you for bringing awareness that's so criminal.
- [23:55]
A
Taylor Parker remains incarcerated on death row at the Patrick L. Odaniel unit in Gatesville, Texas. In May of this year, the U.S. supreme Court declined to review her case, exhausting her direct appeals. Her case will now move through state and federal habeas corpus review, a process that can take years to complete. Because of that, no execution date has been set and won't be until the entire appeals process runs its course. We're so grateful to Jessica Brooks for trusting us to share her daughter's story. I'm Lyndon Blake, and you've been listening to that's so Criminal.
- [24:39]
B
You want to get your backyard summer ready, but you don't want to break the bank. Wayfair gets it. Planning on dining al fresco or relaxing poolside? Wayfair has everything you need to prep your space. Shop now and save up to 70% off during Wayfair's 4th of July clearance score. Huge deals on outdoor furniture, area rugs, and more. We're talking thousands of products for every style and budget. Plus Surprise, flash deals July 6 Don't wait. Shop Wayfair's 4th of July clearance, now through July 6 at wayfair.com. wayfair Every style, Every home.