This article provides an update on the case of Taylor Parker – the woman sentenced to death in Texas for murdering a pregnant mother and cutting her unborn baby from her womb – including information about her pending execution date and the reason she will not receive a last meal. The content is for educational and documentary purposes only, based on news sources and court records. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for crime.
Taylor Parker: When Will the Baby-Snatching Killer Be Executed? And Why She Won’t Get a Last Meal
As seen in Netflix’s latest true crime documentary Maternal Instinct, Taylor Parker was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death on November 9, 2022. But when is her execution date?
The 33-year-old is currently living on death row in Texas after murdering 21-year-old expecting mother Reagan Simmons-Hancock and cutting her unborn baby out of her abdomen.
She stole the baby after faking a pregnancy to her boyfriend Wade Griffin and his family, and tried to convince police that she had just given birth to the infant on the side of the road, but was quickly arrested.
When Will Taylor Parker Be Executed?
Taylor Parker’s execution date hasn’t been set yet, and it won’t be for many years. As revealed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the average time an inmate is on death row in the state is 11.05 years.
She was given the death penalty in 2022, so she has only been on death row for four years so far. That means her execution likely won’t be until at least 2033. However, real data suggests that most prisoners in Texas actually spend an average of about 18 years and 4 months waiting for an execution. So, it might not be until 2040.
The time prisoners are on death row is usually over a decade to allow time for the mandatory appeals process, as inmates have a right to appeal their sentence through both state and federal courts.
Taylor has already made two appeals to lower her sentence, which have both been denied. Her first appeal in November 2025 was rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She then filed a second one to the US Supreme Court in March 2026 to review her death sentence, which was denied in May.
Why Taylor Parker Won’t Get a Last Meal
When Parker is executed, she won’t get to choose a last death row meal because the 87-year tradition was abolished in 2011.
The change came after a prisoner called Lawrence Russell Brewer requested a huge meal and then didn’t eat any of it because he wasn’t hungry. Brewer, a white supremacist who was executed for killing James Byrd Jr. in a 1998 race hate crime, ordered: two fried chicken steaks, a triple bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, a meat pizza, a pint of ice cream and peanut butter fudge.
He then refused to eat any of it, which led Senator John Whitmire to call the meal privilege “inappropriate.” He said: “Enough is enough. It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It’s a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim.”
Just two hours later, the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Brad Livingston, said the tradition would be abolished. Ever since then, all Texas inmates on death row have received the same meal served to all prisoners on the unit, and aren’t able to choose their own final meal.
Primary Sources:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Death row statistics and wait times
Court records – Taylor Parker trial (2022)
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals – November 2025 appeal denial
U.S. Supreme Court – May 2026 decision
Netflix – Maternal Instinct documentary
Reports on Lawrence Russell Brewer and the last meal abolition (2011)