Victim's husband testifies in Taylor Parker murder trial

Wednesday morning in the Taylor Parker murder trial saw evidence from cameras and testimony from witnesses which places Parker near the scene on the morning Reagan Hancock was killed.

An EZ Mart store manager produced a receipt that confirms Parker bought gas at a station only 1.8 miles from Hancock’s home at 6:46 a.m. 

Texas DPS Special Agent Eric Estes showed through surveillance images that Parker was at the station wearing a jacket identical to one she is seen wearing in a photo taken from her phone on October 8.  It was established through Hancock’s social media account that she and Parker knew each other as far back as September of 2019. 

Receipts presented also showed that Parker purchased and downloaded phone apps to allow calls and text via internet, allowing users to spoof different names and numbers.  Phone records showed the Hancock had been communicating with one of these numbers from Parker’s phone app on the morning of the murder. 

New Boston ISD’s director of technology produced footage from a school bus that passed Hancock’s house the morning of the murder, showing no vehicles in Hancock’s driveway at 7:22 a.m. 

Patricia Bradford, a neighbor of Hancock, testified that a dark-colored Toyota Corolla was parked in Hancock’s driveway between 7:30 and 7:40 that morning as she left for work.  Bradford’s son called her around 10 a.m. to tell her that someone was screaming and crying next door. 

Neighbor Brittany Thompson testified to seeing Hancock’s garage door open and her car inside around 7:45 after seeing Hancock’s new puppy roaming the street.  She texted Hancock’s husband, Homer, about the dog, before following her mother across the street to knock on the door inside the garage. 

The women found the door slightly ajar, and she texted Homer again to let him know that no one was answering their knocks.  The women put the puppy over the back fence and left to go shopping. 

Around 10:35, Homer called Thompson to tell her Reagan was dead.  Thompson testified that she had seen a dark-colored vehicle the night before outside the Hancocks’ home. 

Next, the jury heard from 911 dispatcher Katie Jiminez, who took two calls that morning.  At 9:36, Taylor Parker called crying, alleging that she was in need of an ambulance because a state trooper was following her.  She alleged that she’d just given birth and that she was on her way to Idabel. 

The other call came in just after 10:15 and was from Hancock’s mother, Jessica Brookes, who was almost unintelligible as she told Jiminez that her daughter had been murdered.  Brookes is heard calling out to her husband, Marcus, who had entered the house with her that morning, asking if their grand-daughter Kynlee was hurt.  After almost three minutes, the call picks up Kynlee’s voice asking, “Where’s mommy?”

Dispatch recording were played from the traffic stop in De Kalb, with the trooper informing the dispatcher that the baby wasn’t breathing, and that Parker was performing CPR.  He informed dispatch of their location across from the middle school. 

Throughout the interaction, Parker insists on traveling to Idabel, pleading with the trooper to put she and the baby in his car and take them to Oklahoma.  The trooper asked the age of the infant, with Parker responding, “The baby is only like maybe 35 minutes old!” 

This prompted First Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards to ask the dispatcher if that corroborated Parker’s claim to the 911 dispatcher that she had just started having her baby.  The dispatcher answered no.

 Parker can be heard on the dispatch recording refusing to go to St. Michael’s or Titus Regional, insisting that her doctor was in Oklahoma and that she would drive herself if need be.  Jurors also heard the end of a call between Parker and Wade Griffin, as she told him she had started pushing the baby out while driving.

Scott Robinson, the owner of Side X Side Ranch in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, took the stand after the lunch break.  Robinson purchases hogs that clients hunt on his property and testified that “Taylor Griffin” attempted to sell hogs to him on September 22 over the phone. 

He said that red flags appeared almost at once, as she knew nothing about licensing to transport livestock and wanted money up front.  Robinson testified that Parker initially told him the load was coming from Texas, but when he said he couldn’t take livestock from out of state, she changed her point of origin to Oklahoma. 

After asking about her license to transport, her confusion caused him to call off the deal.  She texted him five days later with excuses about the license and claims that it was all straightened out.  Robinson again refused her offer.

Wade Griffin arrived at Side X Side Ranch at 7:35 a.m. on October 9 with a trailer full of hogs.  Robinson testified that he was surprised, as he had ordered none and got a call from a ranch hand that a man had just pulled a gooseneck trailer full of them onto the property.

 Robinson said that Griffin, who he didn’t know, showed him a series of text messages that were allegedly from Robinson, offering to buy the hogs for $6,100.  When Griffin showed Robinson the texts, he quickly pointed out that they hadn’t come from him, as the area code was from Oklahoma and Robinson had never changed his Dallas-based number after relocating. 

Once Robinson realized that Wade’s last name was Griffin, he put two and two together, showing Griffin the texts from two weeks previous between himself and Parker.  As the morning wore on, Robinson’s ranch manager told him the Griffin needed to get rid of the hogs as he’d driven four hours to get them there. 

Robinson initially refused, pointing out that he wouldn’t touch them without proper licensing.  However, as the day got hotter, the manager struck a deal for the hogs at $2,500.  Griffin left the ranch around 10 a.m.

Alonzo Chavers, Jr., was next on the stand.  Chavers, the DPS trooper who made the traffic stop, testified that he pulled Parker over as he observed her driving erratically and speeding down US 82.  

Chavers said that she had her hazard lights on and that she waved at him frantically after pulling over.  He testified that the 2009 Toyota Corolla she was driving was registered to Wade Griffin.  When he approached, he observed Parker with the baby in her lap.  She was on the phone with 911 as he approached. 

Chavers said the baby still had the umbilical cord attached and the other end was tucked into Parker’s yoga pants.  He asked during the stop why she didn’t want to go to St. Michael’s or Titus and said that she claimed St. Michael’s had hurt her previous child. 

Chavers testified that the hand holding up Parker’s phone during the stop was shaking, but the one on the baby in her lap was perfectly still. 

Amanda Pirkey, an employee of the middle school, had training as a nurse and stopped to help, performing CPR on the baby.  Pirkey, as well as an off-duty EMT who stopped to help, convinced Parker they needed to take her yoga pants off as she’d just given birth and they needed to check for trauma. 

As the pair cut her pants off with trauma shears, placenta fell into the floor of the car.  They got her into pajama pants that were in her vehicle and Parker can then be seen on the trooper’s dashcam as she slowly moves to the cruiser, seemingly in pain.

After getting Parker into the cruiser, Chavers returned to the Corolla, documenting the umbilical cord and placenta, noting that there was no blood on the driver’s seat.  EMTs load Parker onto a gurney and she can be heard yelling that she wants to go to Idabel.

Perkins testified that when she arrived, the baby was blue around the mouth and was cold and clammy to the touch.  She also testified that the baby wasn’t messy like one that had just been born but looked as though it had been cleaned up and wiped off. 

Pirkey heard Parker respond to an EMT who was asking what her due date was.  When Parker answered the 30th, the pair assumed initially that she meant in October.  The EMT commented that the baby had been born early, with Parker correcting her that the due date was in September.  Pirkey said that she and the EMT looked at each other with concern over how small the baby appeared. 

Finally, Hancock’s husband took the stand.  Homer Hancock testified that pair had been together five years before marrying on September 21 of 2019.  His testimony came on what would have been their three-year anniversary.  Parker was the photography at their wedding.  He told the jury that Reagan’s daughter Kynlee wasn’t his biological daughter, and that they wanted a baby of their own.  When Reagan got pregnant, they named the baby Braxlynn Sage.

Homer went on to testify that Parker was at their home the night before the murders, and that she arrived just after the family finished dinner.  He testified that Parker wasn’t necessarily a clos friend, but the previous week had seen an increase in texts between she and Reagan.  He testified that Parker had even gotten Reagan a gift for the baby. 
Homer testified that he needed to go to bed, so excused himself to do so.  He could still hear Reagan and Parker talking in Braxlynn’s nursery, with Parker saying that she could help decorate it.  He was unsure what time Parker left the couple’s home.

He went to work the next morning and began receiving texts from Reagan around 7 a.m.  He said that initially the texts seemed like his wife, but the tone took an abrupt shift.  The texts, allegedly from Reagan, began talking about how she wanted to be happy, and that it wasn’t working. 

Around 8:30, the person texting Homer seemed to be ending the conversation.  His final text saying, “I love you,” went unanswered.  Reagan’s phone was never recovered from the crime scene.

Almost one hour later, he received the text from Brittany Thompson about the dog being outside.  He testified that he grew concerned when Reagan didn’t answer his call.  Thompson’s next text about the garage door being open prompted him to start driving home to New Boston from Texarkana. 

On the way, he called family, Kynlee’s daycare, and attempted to call Reagan’s phone almost half a dozen times before he got home.  When he pulled up, he found Kynlee in the driveway and crime scene tape around the house.  He was informed that his wife had died as paramedics came and went from the home.

He said that he hasn’t been back except to pick up some personal items.