Taylor Parker became the focus of national attention after Netflix released Maternal Instinct in June 2026, a documentary chronicling her 10-month web of lies that culminated in one of the most disturbing crimes in recent memory. While Parker spent much of 2020 falsely claiming to be pregnant with boyfriend Wade Griffin’s child, she was already a mother of two — a fact that has shaped the lives of her children long after she was sentenced to death row.
Us Weekly breaks down everything to know about Parker’s family, from her two children to the relatives who testified during her capital murder trial.
Taylor Parker’s Daughter Emersyn
Parker first became a mother at 17, welcoming daughter Emersyn with her then-boyfriend Donald Whiteside. After their split, little has been publicly shared about Whiteside’s involvement in his daughter’s life.
At the time of Parker’s October 2020 arrest, Emersyn had been temporarily staying with Parker’s first ex-husband, Tommy Wacasey. The arrangement had been put in place earlier that year. Around the time Parker first claimed to be pregnant with Griffin’s child, she asked Wacasey to take custody of Emersyn, per KTAL News.
Following Parker’s arrest, her mother, Shona Prior, filed for custody of Emersyn, and the request was granted. During the trial, Prior testified that Emersyn continued to see Wacasey and his family on a regular basis and that she had connected her granddaughter with a counselor to help her process her mother’s crimes.
When asked about how much Emersyn understands, Prior was direct. “You explained to me that you didn’t think (Taylor’s daughter) knew about the crime,” First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp asked during the trial. Prior responded, “She does not know the horrific details. She knows that two people have died at the hands of her mother.”
Jail phone calls played during the trial revealed that Parker told Emersyn not to talk to people about why she was in jail.
Taylor Parker’s Son Trey
Parker welcomed her second child, son Trey, when she was 21. He was born during her marriage to Wacasey, and the birth was complicated enough that Parker subsequently underwent a tubal ligation intended to prevent future pregnancies.
Two years later, Parker suffered an ectopic pregnancy and was rushed in for exploratory surgery. While she was under anesthesia, doctors found an ovarian cyst and scarring from endometriosis. Wacasey gave the doctor approval to perform a hysterectomy, during which Parker’s uterus, cervix and one of her ovaries were removed — guaranteeing she would never be able to get pregnant in the future.
Wacasey had custody of Trey following the couple’s 2018 divorce, and Griffin’s mother, Connie, testified that Parker did not have custody of her son when she began dating Griffin, according to WLNS. KTAL News reported that Parker did not fight for custody when she and Wacasey divorced, and Trey has been living with his father full-time.
During the trial, Prior denied having any sort of custody battle with Wacasey over Trey, telling jurors the boy remained in his father’s care.
Taylor Parker’s Mother Shona Prior
Prior has emerged as one of the most important figures in the aftermath of her daughter’s crimes, taking on full custody of Emersyn and testifying during the trial about Parker’s life as a mother.
Despite everything, Prior told the court that both of Parker’s children “love her,” according to KTAL News. Several family photos were entered into evidence, and prosecutors played jail phone calls between Parker and her children.
Taylor Parker’s Father Mark Morton
Prior shares Parker with ex-husband Mark Morton, whom she divorced in 2005.
Parker and her brother, Zachary Morton, saw their parents fight often during their childhoods. After their divorce, Prior and Morton initially shared custody. However, Prior claimed during the trial that Morton’s anger about the divorce made the arrangement difficult.
The kids were given the option to live with Mark, and Parker primarily lived with her father and his mom as Zachary stayed with Prior.
During the trial, Zachary testified that his father’s lifestyle may have influenced Parker’s personality.
“When dad was chasing other women or drugs, we were put on the back burner,” Zachary testified, according to 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.”
Taylor Parker’s Brother Zachary Morton
Zachary described his sister as mostly a “good mother” during the trial, but he acknowledged that her parenting suffered when she became fixated on a new romantic partner.
“I would say when she was chasin’ Wade would be the most recent,” Zachary said, according to KTAL News. “She didn’t necessarily give enough attention to [her daughter] at that time.”
His comments echoed a pattern that prosecutors highlighted throughout the case: Parker’s tendency to upend her life — and her children’s lives — each time she pursued a new relationship.
Taylor Parker’s Marriages and Romantic History
Before her relationship with Griffin, Parker was married twice. She married Wacasey in 2011, separated from him in July 2017 and finalized their divorce in March 2018. Just 11 days later, she married her second husband, Hunter Parker. That marriage lasted about a year before ending in 2019.
Hunter testified against Taylor during her trial and claimed she did not tell him she was infertile until after they were married. He also said she accused her of faking seizures in an attempt to prevent him from leaving her and tried to convince him to take out a loan to fund a surrogate.
Taylor met Griffin in the summer of 2019 after moving to a rural town in Texas. She moved into his home that fall and claimed to be pregnant by January 2020. During the trial, Griffin testified that Taylor went to great lengths to make herself indispensable by handling finances, livestock and meals.
“A few people might have said a few things like that. I’m like, ‘Man I’m just telling ya, she’s dotted her I’s, crossed her T’s from the healthcare paperwork and everything makes sense to me,’” Griffin said on the stand, according to KTAL News. “You just might not see the whole picture.”
Taylor Parker’s Crimes and Conviction
On October 9, 2020 — well past her alleged September 22 due date — Taylor killed her pregnant friend Reagan Simmons-Hancock at her home. After strangling and stabbing Simmons-Hancock, she performed a crude C-section to remove the unborn child, then fled the scene with the newborn and called 911 from a highway, claiming she had just given birth on the side of the road.
Taylor was transported to McCurtain Memorial Hospital, where doctors quickly found no evidence she had given birth and later learned about her hysterectomy.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Chad Dansby began interviewing her at the hospital, and she was linked to Simmons-Hancock and her baby’s death that same day.
Taylor was found guilty of capital murder and kidnapping in October 2022. She was sentenced to death and is currently the youngest woman on death row in the state of Texas.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
