The chilling Netflix true-crime documentary “Maternal Instinct” has left viewers shocked by the deeply disturbing actions of Taylor Parker.
While the documentary pieced together the elaborate web of lies Parker spun, viewers noticed that one major element from her 2022 capital murder trial was noticeably absent: her official mental health diagnosis.
In an interview detailing the production, “Maternal Instinct” director Jessica Dimmock told Netflix’s Tudum why she opted to leave out the specific psychological labels presented by the defense.
“Taylor didn’t go into this crime having an established diagnosis, so it’s hard to understand the validity of one diagnosis,” Dimmock said. “That being said, there’s definitely something very wrong with her.”
Parker, 33, is the youngest woman on death row in Texas following her 2022 conviction for killing 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock. Her mental health was assessed during the trial, with defense calling neuropsychologist Dr. Siddartha Nadkarni to the stand, who examined Parker in March of 2022, according to KTAL News.
“She has frontal lobe dysfunction, frontal lobe syndrome,” said Nadkarni. According to the National Library of Medicine, this is a condition where brain dysfunction causes cognitive, emotional and behavioral symptoms.
Other medical experts testified that Parker struggled with mental illness before the killing but were unable to provide a formal diagnosis. State experts argued her actions should be attributed to psychopathy.
Dimmock said the decision also reflects the legal reality that Parker did not pursue an insanity defense.
“She did not attempt an insanity defense,” Dimmock told the outlet. “For Reagan’s family, that’s an important distinction: It doesn’t matter what was wrong with her. The jury found her guilty and sentenced her to death.”
The crime occurred Oct. 9, 2020, after Parker spent nine months faking a pregnancy to deceive her boyfriend. Parker attacked Simmons-Hancock in her home, performed a forced C-section to remove the unborn baby and fled with the child and placenta.
An officer later stopped Parker, who claimed she had given birth on the side of the road. Hospital staff determined she had not been pregnant. Parker was linked to the murders of Simmons-Hancock and her daughter, Braxlynn Sage Hancock, and arrested shortly after.
She was found guilty of capital murder and kidnapping in October 2022. Dimmock said the documentary focuses on established facts rather than debating conflicting psychiatric theories, stating “there’s no way to know for sure” what led to the crimes.
“Maternal Instinct” is currently streaming on Netflix.
