Taylor Parker’s crimes have left many people curious about her mental health, and Maternal Instinct director Jessica Dimmock reflected on why the subject’s diagnosis was not included in the project.
“Taylor didn’t go into this crime having an established diagnosis, so it’s hard to understand the validity of one diagnosis,” Dimmock told Netflix’s Tudum. “That being said, there’s definitely something very wrong with her.”
During her 2022 trial, neuropsychologist Dr. Siddartha Nadkarni testified that Parker, 33, had frontal lobe syndrome, according to KTAL News. The diagnosis is when damage to or dysfunction of the brain’s frontal lobes causes a collection of cognitive, emotional and behavioral symptoms, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Meanwhile, other doctors also took the stand to share their professional opinions that Parker struggled with some type of mental illness prior to her killing her pregnant friend Reagan Simmons-Hancock. However, several said they were unable to formally diagnose her.
While it’s believed that Parker has some sort of disorder, Dimmock explained why she chose to not include the argument in the documentary.
“At trial, the defense put on experts who testified that she had several psychiatric disorders, but the State’s experts argued her actions were attributed to psychopathy,” Dimmock told the outlet.
Dimmock went on to say that “there’s no way to know for sure” what may have led Parker to commit the crimes. “She did not attempt an insanity defense. For [Reagan’s] family, that’s an important distinction: It doesn’t matter what was wrong with her,” she said. “The jury found her guilty and sentenced her to death.”
Parker killed Simmons-Hancock, 21, on October 9, 2020 — which came after nine months of Parker faking her own pregnancy with then-boyfriend Wade Griffin. As Parker’s alleged due date passed on September 22 and she still hadn’t given birth, many of Griffin’s loved ones began to question the validity of Parker’s pregnancy.
Parker attacked Simmons-Hancock in her home, performed a C-section to remove her baby, placenta and umbilical cord and fled the scene with the child. She was then pulled over by an officer and she called 911 to claim she had just given birth to the baby girl and was on her way to the hospital. Once she arrived at the hospital, doctors determined that Parker had not given birth. She was quickly linked to Hancock-Simmons and her daughter Braxlynn Sage Hancock’s murder, and she was arrested soon after.
Parker was found guilty of capital murder and kidnapping in October 2022 and was sentenced to death. She is currently awaiting execution as the youngest woman on death row in the state of Texas.
