Taylor Parker, convicted of murdering a pregnant woman in one of Texas's most disturbing recent criminal cases, will not be allowed to choose a final meal before her execution — and the reason has nothing to do with her own case.
The crime that led to her sentence
Parker, now 33, was convicted of capital murder in 2022 after killing Reagan Simmons Hancock, who was eight months pregnant, in 2020. Parker had spent months faking her own pregnancy, deceiving her family and partner, before attacking Hancock and removing her unborn child from her womb. She was arrested the same day and later sentenced to death, becoming one of six women currently on death row in Texas. The Supreme Court declined to review her case in May 2026, and no execution date has yet been set.
A tradition that ended over a decade ago
Texas death row inmates haven't been able to request a special final meal since 2011, and the change traces back to one inmate's actions rather than any broader policy shift. Lawrence Russell Brewer, convicted of murdering James Byrd Jr. in a racially motivated killing in the late 1990s, requested an enormous final meal ahead of his execution — including multiple cheeseburgers, fajitas, a pound of barbecue, pizza, ice cream, and more.
When the food was prepared and delivered, Brewer refused to eat any of it, claiming he wasn't hungry. He was executed as scheduled shortly afterward.
The policy that followed
In response, Texas state senator John Whitmire ended the practice altogether, closing an 87-year-old tradition that had allowed death row inmates to request a meal of their choosing before execution. Since then, no inmate in the state — including Parker, whenever her execution date is eventually set — has had that option.
