Maternal Instinct is one of Netflix‘s latest true-crime projects that has people talking.
Director Jessica Dimmock‘s new documentary dropped on Netflix on Friday (June 12), which explores the brutal 2020 murder of Reagan Simmons-Hancock and her newborn baby, Braxlynn Sage Hancock, at the hands of Taylor Parker.
DECIDER contributor John Serba recommended the new doc in his Maternal Instinct review, writing that “Maternal Instinct is one of the stronger true crime docs in the Netflix stable.”
Wondering what Netflix’s Maternal Instinct is about? Who is Taylor Parker?
What is Maternal Instinct On Netflix About? Everything to Know About Taylor Parker:
Maternal Instinct centers on Taylor, who according to Time, struck up a relationship with a hog trapper named Wade Griffin after moving to a small town in East Texas in 2019. Per Netflix’s Tudum, she convinced him that she came from a wealthy family, and moved in with him only three months into their relationship. She later claimed that she was pregnant, but her pregnancy turned out to be a lie, as she could physically not give birth due to undergoing a hysterectomy years before.
Parker met Simmons-Hancock through photographing her wedding in September 2019. The two became close, and once Simmons-Hancock, who was 21 years old at the time, was 35 weeks pregnant in October 2020, she and Parker spent the day together. Two days later, Simmons-Hancock’s mother could not get ahold of her. Simmons-Hancock was found dead in her home on Oct. 9, 2020, having suffered numerous stab wounds, and her baby had been cut out of her. Her three-year-old daughter was home at the time, as well. Parker was pulled over by the police later that day, claiming that she had just given birth and her newborn was not breathing. She and the baby were brought to the hospital, where Parker was revealed to have no signs of having just given birth.
Per Entertainment Weekly, Parker ultimately admitted that she had abducted the baby, and was arrested at the hospital. According to the outlet, she was found guilty of capital murder and kidnapping in October 2022, and was sentenced to death the following month. As reported by USA Today, Parker is currently on death row in Texas awaiting an execution date.
Dimmock opened up to People about why she chose to make this documentary, explaining that “we have an idea of what danger is and what we think danger looks like and it doesn’t look like this blonde, bubbly photographer that you meet.”
“The idea that something like this could happen so unexpectedly, with no warning signs on the victim’s side redefines what we think of when we think of danger and just how cruel and manipulative people can be,” she added.
Are Netflix’s Maternal Instinct and Lifetime’s Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard Related?
The subject matter in Netflix’s Maternal Instinct may remind viewers of Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard, Lifetime‘s 2023 film starring Anna Hopkins and Emily Osment that is also available to stream on Netflix. While both Maternal Instinct and Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard chronicle real stories, they tackle two different (but startlingly similar) cases. Plus, unlike Maternal Instinct, Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard is not a documentary, but a dramatization of the case that was part of Lifetime’s “Ripped From The Headlines” slate.
Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard follows Heidi Broussard and Magen Fieramusca. In 2019, Broussard learned that she and Fieramusca, who she met and befriended at the Texas Bible Institute, were pregnant at the same time. However, Fieramusca’s pregnancy was a ruse. According to Netflix’s Tudum, Broussard and her newborn, Margot, went missing on December 12, 2019 after she dropped off her oldest child at school. Broussard was found dead in the trunk of Fieramusca’s car, and Margot was discovered alive in Fieramusca’s home in Houston.
Per People, in January 2023, Fieramusca accepted a plea deal to reduce her capital murder charge, two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse, to first-degree murder, and waived her right to an appeal. According to the outlet, Fieramusca is currently in jail, serving a 55-year-long prison sentence.
Both Maternal Instinct and Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard are streaming on Netflix.