Texas woman indicted for murder in pregnant mom’s slaying

NEW BOSTON, Texas (AP) — The woman accused of killing a pregnant mom and removing the baby from the victim’s womb was indicted Thursday on murder charges.

Taylor Parker, 27, was indicted by a Bowie County grand jury on charges of capital murder and kidnapping in the deaths of 21-year-old Regan Michelle Simmons-Hancock and her unborn daughter.

Parker allegedly admitted to an investigator with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that she had an “altercation” with Hancock, according to the Texarkana Gazette.

Simmons-Hancock was found dead on Oct. 9 with a large cut across her abdomen in her home in New Boston, Texas.

Parker was pulled over by a Texas state trooper the same morning in DeKalb, Texas, 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of the crime scene. She was allegedly found with the baby in her lap and allegedly claimed she had just given birth on the side of the road.

Parker is being held in the Bowie County jail in downtown Texarkana with bails totaling $5 million. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of kidnapping, five to 99 years or life if found guilty of murder. Parker faces a life sentence without parole or death if convicted of capital murder.