Doctors at McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel quickly determined that Parker had not recently given birth to the baby she claimed was hers.
by Tawsha Brinkley-Davenport
It has been three years since the national spotlight was on McCurtain County with the now-infamous commissioner recordings.
Now, the county is again thrust back into the headlines. It seems everyone is talking about Reagan and Taylor; these names, connected along with “Idabel,” have reached the major news networks.
Because of the added attention, the McCurtain Memorial Hospital and its daily operations are being affected.
But who are Reagan and Taylor? Why are people discussing them during their lunch hours?
It is all because of the long-awaited true crime documentary just released on Netflix on June 12, “Maternal Instinct.”
Many are calling the terrifying true story one of the most disturbing baby abduction cases in recent history. Not only were the abduction and murder horrific beyond words, but the months of lies and deceptions that led to the grizzly ending were unimaginable.
And it was all the work of one evil mind, a young mother by the name of Taylor Parker.
In 2020, she befriended Reagan Simmons-Hancock, mother of a four-year-old daughter and soon-to-be bride. Parker introduced herself to Simmons-Hancock as a wedding photographer. Parker had two young children herself and had previously had a hysterectomy.
Finding herself in a new relationship, Parker had been faking a pregnancy for over ten months. She was desperate for a baby, no matter what the cost.
After months of friendship, before it was all over, Simmons-Hancock lay dead on the floor of her own home.
When Simmons-Hancock’s daughter didn’t show up to daycare, her mother and stepfather were called. Her mom went to check on her. Having found bloody footprints when she arrived, she happened to already be on the phone with the 9-1-1 operator. The moment she found her daughter’s body was caught on tape, and the desperation and screams of terror within her voice is something that listeners will not soon forget. “One that haunts the soul,” viewers have described it as.
Meanwhile, Parker was on her way to Oklahoma with Reagan’s baby girl in her vehicle. Braxlynn Sage, Reagan had already named her. Simmons-Hancock had been eight months pregnant.
Parker was swerving in the road with her hazard lights on and was on the Oklahoma side of the state line when an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer stopped her. She told him she was on her way to McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel to meet her boyfriend, “the baby’s father,” who was in Oklahoma working. The trooper found the baby dead in Taylor’s lap with the umbilical cord still attached.
This is where the story leads us to the problems McCurtain Memorial Hospital is currently having.
Several of the State Troopers, OSBI detectives, and hospital staff, including the obstetrician, are shown in the documentary. Each showed Parker with restraint and respect under the circumstances.
Brian Whitfield, McCurtain Memorial Hospital CEO, had to make a public statement this week, because of the disruption the documentary is causing his employees and patients.
According to Whitfield, the phone calls about the hospital have been non-stop.
“It’s been nonstop by news outlets and people interested in taking photos and such,” said Whitfield.
During the trial, there was no interest in taking photos or phone calls. But there was no national press at the time. The trial was in Texas. Even though some of the employees testified during the trial.
“Several from my hospital attended her trial,” said Whitfield.
One former employee of Dr. Bill Herron said, “he was at the trial, but he did not participate in the appeal trial.”
Netflix has put the story on the national stage, where it will remain for years on other platforms.
“We have received inquiries from individuals seeking to visit our hospital, view areas associated with the events depicted, and speak with or photograph members of our medical team,” said Whitfield.
When asked if he thought the press and lookie-loos would die down, like those who vacation just to see crime scenes, he responded, “Yes, I think it will all settle down.”
Everyone hopes it does. People calling the hospital and trying to come inside to take photos need to remember what Mr. Whitfield is expressing.
“While the events portrayed were real and remain a matter of public record, they also represent one of the most painful chapters in the lives of the victims’ families, the New Boston community, and the healthcare professionals who responded that day. The New Boston community will forever carry the scars of this loss, and many members of our team continue to carry those memories as well,” said Whitfield.
