NEW BOSTON, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) – Closing arguments are underway in Taylor Parker’s capital murder trial in Bowie County.
Parker, now 29, is charged with kidnapping and capital murder in the October 2020 death of 21-year-old New Boston mother Reagan Hancock and her baby girl, Braxlynn Sage. Hancock was strangled, beaten, and repeatedly stabbed, and her unborn daughter was cut from her womb. The baby was later pronounced dead at the hospital after a Texas DPS trooper pulled Parker over in De Kalb on the morning of the murder with the newborn in her lap, unresponsive.
Parker has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors have said they are seeking the death penalty due to the heinous and pre-meditated nature of the crime and because Parker showed no remorse.
The courtroom filled up quickly Monday morning before the jury was brought in, with Hancock’s parents and extended family in attendance. Each side will have one hour to make their arguments after Judge John Tidwell reads the charges to them.
Both sides rested on Thursday after jurors heard from Parker’s ex-boyfriend, Wade Griffin, and from the Oklahoma OSI Special Investigator who interviewed Parker in her hospital bed shortly before her arrest.
After testimony wrapped up, Parker’s defense team immediately moved for a directed verdict, essentially asking the judge to throw out the capital murder charge against her. They argued that a fetus that has not been born is not a person under Texas law and therefore cannot be kidnapped.
Judge John Tidwell denied that request and the defense rested its case without bringing a single witness.
If the jury finds Parker guilty of capital murder in Reagan Hancock’s death, the trial will enter a second phase that will include testimony meant to aid the jury in determining whether she should receive a death sentence or life without the possibility of parole.
Parker opted not to testify in the guilt or innocence phase of the trial but could take the stand during the penalty phase if she is convicted. That phase of the trial would begin on Oct. 12, and it is expected to last two to three weeks.
