Even if it happens, it never ceases to amaze what a person is capable of. In the US, a woman faces the death penalty for killing another woman afterward tearing the waiting child from the womb.
Reagan Michelle Simmons-Hancock was only 21 years old and I was 36 weeks pregnant when Taylor Rene Parker accosted her on the street and kidnapped her to her home, where she committed the atrocity.
As confirmed by investigators, Parker, who is 29 years old and from Texas, hit hard on the head with a stone Simmons-Hancock and knocked her unconscious when he passed her on the street.
Then he took her home where with a scalpel he cut open her belly while Simmons-Hancock was still alive and extracted the baby. Subsequently, with the same scalpel, he stabbed the woman dozens of times until she died.
Now Parker awaits the death sentence.
The guilty verdict came after three weeks of testimony in Bowie County, northeast Texas, where Parker’s attorneys were based they tried to dismiss the kidnapping charge and reduce the charge from capital murder to murder.
Lawyers argued that the child was never alive and therefore could not be secshown, but prosecutors said several medical professionals testified to it he had a heartbeat when he was “born”.
“We systematically exposed what (Parker) did, why he did it, all moving parts and all collateral damage,” said Attorney Kelley Crisp.
The court heard as Parker she pretended to be pregnant before the murderand Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards described her as a “liar” and “manipulative”.
“It Wasn’t a Quick Death”
In gruesome detail, prosecutors recounted Parker’s attack on Simmons-Hancock, revealing that the young woman she was still alive after her baby was removed from her womb.
“You can’t let her live. It wasn’t a quick death. She kept cutting it. I guess Reagan wouldn’t die fast enough for Taylor to get out of there and move forward with her plans,” she said.
“My only biological sister. You have to understand what you took from me and my family. You won’t have to celebrate your birthday anymore. I was just 19 when I got the call that my sister was gone,” Simmons said. “She will never be my bridesmaid. If I visit my sister I have to go to a cemetery and see a headstone. never again a message or a phone call from her”.
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.