Where Is Taylor Parker’s Family Now? Inside Mom Shona, Dad Mark and Brother Zachary’s Lives After the Maternal Instinct Murder

Taylor Parker’s mom and brother testified during her 2022 murder trial

NEED TO KNOW

• Taylor Parker was convicted of killing pregnant Reagan Simmons-Hancock and cutting out her fetus
• Several of Parker’s family members testified about her lies during her 2022 murder trial
• None of her family members participated in the Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct

Convicted murderer Taylor Parker was born and raised in a small town in Texas.

Parker’s parents, Shona Prior and Mark Morton, welcomed her in December 1992 and named her Taylor Rene, per public records. The couple also had a son, Zachary, before they divorced in 2005, as Prior testified in court, according to KTAL News.

Parker and her younger brother went on to split time between their parents and grandparents’ homes before she became pregnant with her first child when she was 17 years old. Parker went on to have two children and get married and divorced twice.

In August 2019, Parker met Wade Griffin, and she moved into his home a few months later. By January 2020, she told him that she was pregnant with their child — even though she had previously undergone a hysterectomy.

Parker lied to Griffin and his family members for 10 months until she was nearly two weeks past her supposed due date. On Oct. 9, 2020, Parker alleged that she was going to the hospital but drove to her friend Reagan Simmons-Hancock’s house instead. She went on to kill Simmons-Hancock — who was 35 weeks pregnant — cut out her unborn daughter and kidnap her. The infant later died.

Parker was quickly arrested and charged with the murders after doctors saw that she had not given birth. After Prior and Zachary testified in court, Parker was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death in November 2022. The case has since been told in the Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct.

Here’s everything to know about where Taylor Parker’s family is now.

Who are Taylor Parker’s family members?

Parker was born to parents Prior and Morton on Dec. 8, 1992. The then-couple raised Parker in Titus County, Texas, with her younger brother, Zachary.

Prior testified that her daughter competed in basketball, baseball and cheerleading while attending Chapel Hill Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, Texas. She described Parker as an average student with good grades, but she also alleged that her daughter had various health issues starting when she was a child.

Parker and Zachary were also witnesses to their parents fighting, and Prior and Morton split in 2005 when Parker was 12 years old. They initially shared custody, but Prior claimed that Morton’s anger about the divorce made their arrangement difficult.

Prior said that the kids went on to stay at her grandmother’s home or they had the option to live with Morton. As time went on, she said, Parker primarily lived with Morton and his mom, while Zachary stayed with Prior.

Zachary testified that his father’s lifestyle may have had an influence on Parker after he noticed similar traits between the two.

“When dad was chasing other women or drugs, we were put on the back burner,” Zachary testified per KTAL News. “It seemed like when Taylor was chasing another man, instead of the focus being on her children, it was on herself. It was all about her at one specific time.”

Were Parker’s family members involved in her life?

When Parker started dating Griffin in the summer of 2019, she allegedly told him that she and her mother were estranged, because Prior had refused to give her her multi-million-dollar inheritance. However, Parker was lying about her background — including that she came from a family of wealthy syrup moguls.

In addition to pretending that she was expecting a massive fortune, Parker also lied about being estranged from her mother.

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Prior testified that she often watched Parker’s children, Emersyn and Trey. In the midst of Parker’s relationship with Griffin in 2019, Prior was helping her with some medical bills and was unaware of Parker making big purchases with her new boyfriend.

Although Prior wasn’t totally estranged from her daughter, she testified that she mainly saw Parker when she picked up her grandkids.

Did Parker’s family know about her fake pregnancy?

In August 2015, Parker underwent a hysterectomy as a result of an ectopic pregnancy, an ovarian cyst and scarring from endometriosis. Prior testified that she was present for the surgery and gave consent — along with Parker’s then-husband Tommy Wacasey— for the doctors to perform the procedure while Parker was under anesthesia.

“I don’t think she was upset until after they got home,” Prior said. “She expressed a little bit of anger about having a hysterectomy. I think she was planning on having more children.”

Prior reflected on the decision and said that the ordeal “could have” changed their relationship dynamic.

Five years later, Parker went on to fake being pregnant. Prior testified that her daughter didn’t look like she was expecting when she saw her in 2020, but she found out through social media that Parker was pretending to be pregnant.

Prior said that she never directly spoke to her daughter about the lie, but she had a conversation with Griffin’s mother, Connie, during which she confirmed Connie’s suspicions that Parker couldn’t be pregnant. When asked why she never talked with Parker about the fake pregnancy, Prior said she figured other people would handle it, namely her boyfriend, Griffin.

“We figured the lie was going to be exposed, there were so many people who knew it was a lie and just kept on buying it,” she said. “I’m not shifting the blame, I just figured he [Griffin] would figure it out. His mother was aware of it, his brother was aware of it. It’s like everyone around them was aware of it. We did not feel the need to call them up.”

Meanwhile, Taylor’s father, Morton, attended Parker and Griffin’s March 2020 gender reveal party, even though he knew she was unable to become pregnant, Prior testified.

Although Parker’s parents never confronted her about the fake pregnancy, Zachary testified that he questioned his sister about the lies she was telling Griffin about their family’s inheritance.

“I was tired of the lies,” he said. “If she wants to lie, feel free, but the moment you bring me into a lie it becomes my problem, and I don’t want anybody misrepresenting me or lying and bashing me.”

When Zachary called Griffin and told him the truth, he claimed that Griffin told him he wouldn’t believe anything he said. Zachary testified that Griffin blocked his phone number and Facebook account.

Parker’s aunt, Molly Glass, also testified that Parker blocked her on social media after she tried to expose the lies. Glass proceeded to call Griffin’s close friend Stephanie Ott and tell her that it was impossible for Parker to be pregnant.

Where is Taylor Parker’s family now?

Parker’s family members have kept a private life in the years since she murdered Simmons-Hancock. Although several of them testified during Parker’s 2022 trial and sentencing, they have since stepped away from the public eye and didn’t participate in Maternal Instinct.

Prior gained custody of Parker’s daughter Emersyn, for whom she sought counseling, while Trey has been in the custody of his father for years. Prior later denied having a “custody battle” over Trey with Wacasey.

“They love her,” Prior answered when asked how Parker’s kids feel about their mother, per KTAL News.

Prior added that Emersyn “does not know the horrific details” of Parker’s crime but “she knows that two people have died at the hands of her mother.”