Texas woman stabs friend multiple times, rips baby out of her womb

A 29-year-old Texas woman, who brutally killed her friend before ripping her baby out of her womb, has been sentenced to death.

The woman, identified as Taylor Rene Parker, carried out the horrific crime in October 2020 in New Boston. She stabbed her friend, Simmons-Hancock, more than 100 times.

Hancock's baby was seven and a half months old when Parker ripped it out of her womb using a scalpel. She took the baby and fled with it.

She was caught at a traffic stop by the police. She told them that she had given birth by the side of the road, but her story did not match up. The baby was later taken to a hospital, where she died.

According to a report in The Independent, Parker had been faking a pregnancy out of fear that her boyfriend might leave her. She even organised a gender reveal party.

An investigation into the case over the last two years revealed that Parker had watched several videos on delivering babies in the days leading up to the crime.

"She slashed [ Simmons-Hancock ]hundreds of times. She beat her with a hammer. You are going to say she's not violent? She ripped her uterus out by the back." said prosecutor Kelley Crisp during the trial.

Her lawyers tried to persuade the jury to spare her life by arguing that she was mentally ill. But she was handed the death penalty on Wednesday, following hours of deliberations by the Bowie County jury.

Simmons-Hancock's mother, Jessica Brooks, in a victim impact statement delivered before the sentencing, described Parker as an "evil piece of flesh demon."

"[My daughter] was one of the very few people on this Earth who cared about you. Now, who cares about you?" she said in the statement.

"My baby was alive still fighting for her babies when you tore her open and ripped her baby from her stomach," Parker added.