Jurors in the Taylor Parker trial are in week three, having already seen Reagan Hancock’s family members’ emotional testimonies, gruesome crime scene photos and video, and testimony from medical professionals who said they felt like “idiots” after discovering they had been duped by Parker. Parker’s boyfriend’s mother continued her testimony on Tuesday, September 20, saying that Parker went out of her way to win her family over. She was quickly suspicious, however, and tried to convey this to her son to no avail. She even went so far as to call a private investigator to look into Parker, who told her, “Until (your son) is ready to hear this, it’s not going to make a difference.” She testified that she continued to be concerned for her son throughout his relationship with Parker, and urged him on numerous occasions to end the relationship.
The court also heard testimony from a fire investigator who, on behalf of an insurance company, visited Parker’s home in Simms on October 9, 2020 to investigate damages from a fire that occurred at the residence four days prior. He stated that he found a cigarette lighter near the source of the fire and determined the fire to be arson. Two employees of a Paris, Texas OB/GYN clinic testified that on September 30, 2020, Parker came in to their clinic as a new patient. They both said she had the appearance of a woman in the late stages of pregnancy. Upon noticing Parker crying in the waiting area, she was called in to the back, where she told them that the baby’s father had died in military service, and that she was upset because her mother wasn’t going to be able to make it for the appointment. They said Parker was offered a sonogram, which she refused, and instead rescheduled for an appointment the next day. When the employees left for lunch, they said to have seen Parker on a bench outside their office, and she was still there when they returned an hour later. Parker never showed for the appointment the next day.
On Wednesday, September 21, jurors began hearing testimony of the day of the murder. The court saw surveillance photos of Parker taken at EZ Mart in New Boston at around 6:30 a.m. on October 9, 2020. Parker was dressed in a black coat, a white high-necked shirt, black yoga pants, and white open toed sandals.
