Taylor Parker denied final meal; why Texas stopped practice for death row inmates

Taylor Parker, accused of killing Reagan Hancock, was denied her final meal after Texas stopped offering special last meals to death row inmates in 2011.

Taylor Parker was denied her final meal after Texas stopped offering special last meals to death row inmates in 2011. The practice was stopped after an inmate ordered a lavish feast and refused to eat it. Inmates were previously allowed a final meal before their execution.

Taylor Parker denied final meal before execution (Idabel Police Department)

Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was handed a death sentence for the racially motivated murder of James Byrd Jr, was put to death in September, being offered a final meal before his execution. The 44-year-old ordered a lavish banquet, consisting of chicken steaks, fried okra with ketchup, and a cheese omelette with ground beef, jalapenos and bell peppers as well as a 'riple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, one pound of barbecue and a half loaf of white bread, pizza meat lover's special, one pint of 'homemade vanilla' Blue Bell ice cream, one slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts and three root beers, according to LADbible. In the end, he claimed he wasn’t hungry and refused to eat.

After this incident, Senator John Whitmire promptly ended the 87-year-old tradition. Inmates now simply receive whatever is on the menu that day at the cafeteria.

Parker is currently behind bars at Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, where she is waiting for her sentence to be carried out. As a result,

Read More I Where is Taylor Parker now? Latest update on death row inmate featured in Netflix's ‘Maternal Instinct’

Who is Taylor Parker?

Parker killed Reagan Hancock, a 21-year-old mother who was 35 weeks pregnant with her second child. After killing her, Taylor cut open her abdomen and stole her unborn child, and tried passing her off as her own child.

However, the child was later confirmed to be Reagan's, while Parker, who had faked her own pregnancy, was arrested and charged with capital murder, murder and kidnapping in 2022. She found guilty, and handed the death sentence on 9 November, 2022.

Netflix's Maternal Instinct, which premiered globally on June 12, revisits the case.