Six years have passed since Brooklyn Beckham proposed to his beloved, Nicola Peltz.

On Tuesday, the couple took to Instagram to share heartfelt tributes, demonstrating their enduring love. In a touching post, Brooklyn, the eldest son of the Beckham clan, expressed, “I love you more than words.”

These posts surfaced shortly after Nicola, 31, seemed to make a veiled comment regarding the Beckham family through a mysterious Instagram message. This development comes amid rising tensions, with Brooklyn reportedly upset over his parents including him in their Father’s Day social media acknowledgments on Sunday.

In a continued display of devotion to his wife, Brooklyn shared a classic black and white photograph capturing their joyful bond. He reminisced, “Six years ago, I asked my best friend to marry me x You are my girl, my beautiful wife, and my whole heart.”

He added, “Every day with you feels like the best adventure, and I still can’t believe I get to do life with you.”

‘You make everything brighter, funnier, sweeter, and more magical just by being you. I can’t wait to keep laughing, dreaming, and staying young with you forever.

‘I love you more than words, Nicola’.

Replying in the comments, Nicola gushed back: ‘i couldn’t possibly love you more. you’re my world, my rock and my soulmate. i love you a million times over and i love being your wife thank you for loving me so perfectly my forever’.

A few hours later Nicola took to her own social media to share her love for her husband as she wrote: ‘I can’t believe we got engaged 6 years ago today. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, you’re my best friend and my forever love wrapped in one.

‘I love you with my whole heart. you’re the kindest man I’ve ever met and I’m so happy I get to do life with you. thank you for being the magical you.’

Brooklyn also replied as he added: ‘Your [sic] my best friend forever and ever’.

Brooklyn and Nicola tied the knot in April 2022 at a lavish ceremony at the Peltz’s family ocean front estate in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Three years later they renewed their vows in New York’s Westchester County – however Brooklyn’s family were not invited. 

In his bombshell statement to his family back in January, Brooklyn explained he and his wife wished to ‘create new memories that bring us joy and happiness’ after Victoria ‘hijacked’ his first dance and called him ‘evil’ when she wasn’t seated at his table.

And the Beckham feud has once again hit headlines after David extended an olive branch to his eldest son on Father’s Day as he shared an old photograph of himself and Brooklyn as a child as well as a snap of himself with all four of his kids.

Alongside the images, he wrote: ‘Being a dad is my most important job – I love you all and thank you mummy @victoriabeckham for giving me our beautiful family. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads around the world’. 

Victoria also included their son Brooklyn in her heartfelt Father’s Day post to her husband on Sunday.

And, while Brooklyn has publicly remained silent, behind the scenes he is reportedly ‘fuming’. 

A source revealed: ‘He’s fuming about it. He’s asked them to leave him alone and they just keep posting him.’

They told The Sun: ‘It just brings the whole thing up all over again. He wishes they’d leave it and leave him alone.’

Then a few hours later Nicola appeared to take a ‘swipe’ at the Beckham family as shared a quote about ‘forgiving yourself’.

The quote reads: ‘I am in love with this sentence: Forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach.’

Shortly before Christmas last year, Brooklyn blocked his parents on Instagram, while his lawyers later wrote to the Beckhams’ team requesting all communication be conducted through legal representatives. 

The Daily Mail contacted Brooklyn’s representatives for comment at the time.

Last week Brooklyn was accused of selling his family out for a big sum following the release of his two-part DoorDash commercial. 

Five months after declaring that he and his wife Nicola want privacy, Brooklyn was savaged by fans, who branded him ‘classless’ after he collaborated with the food delivery firm for the sponsored video.

It was reported that Brooklyn was paid a hefty figure for the ad, with a source saying: ‘Anything that makes him money is good – it shows that his brand is there and flourishing.’

It’s thought that he was paid ‘at least $1million (£755,000)’ for the campaign.

However, the Beckham clan were reportedly less impressed with the advert, with an insider telling Page Six: ‘Brooklyn claims he wants peace and privacy and nothing to do with his family – now he’s trying to cash in on it all.’

In the teaser clip for the advert released on June 15, Brooklyn smirks and says: ‘You’re probably wondering why I’m watching the Fifa World Cup 2026 from home… It’s a long story.’

It has been taken as mocking parents David and Victoria with whom he no longer speaks – and profiting off their name, while friends of the Beckhams have said the pair are ‘devastated and inconsolable’ by the jibe.

The second longer version was released on Wednesday, sparking even fiercer backlash from even the most supportive Brooklyn fans, with followers commenting in their droves under the Instagram clip.  

Friends of the Beckhams were shocked to see Brooklyn’s advert.

One told the Daily Mail’s Katie Hind: ‘To do an advert based on estrangement from family as if it’s a joke when his family is devastated and sister and grandparents inconsolable is shocking.

‘Especially from someone who claims he wants peace and privacy.’

In January, Brooklyn released a scathing six-page statement (below) denouncing his parents.

He announced he had cut ties with his family – declaring he was no longer part of ‘Brand Beckham’ and insisting his parents and their other children are ‘performative’.

Brooklyn also claimed David and Victoria had controlled him for much of his life, attempted to drive a wedge between him and Nicola and left him embarrassed when his mother danced ‘inappropriately’ with him during the first dance at his wedding.

After serving the Queens community for close to 90 years, the iconic White Castle is closing its doors this Wednesday, marking the end of one of New York City’s oldest restaurants.

Situated on 57th Avenue in Elmhurst, this fast-food landmark, which has been in operation since 1939, has been sold and is expected to be converted into an apartment complex, as revealed by restaurant manager Elsa Lima to the Queens Chronicle.

A banner hanging on the building read, “This location is closed. It was our pleasure to serve you,” encouraging customers to visit the closest outlets in Brooklyn and Sunnyside.

By Tuesday night, the dining area had nearly emptied out, leaving only a large soda machine and various kitchen appliances amidst the vacant space.

White Castle, with over 25 locations in New York, stated that the decision to sell the beloved Queens location was due to the property’s significantly increased value, a common scenario in a family-owned business.

“As the value increases, it makes business sense for us to listen closely to a prospective buyer,” Chief Marketing Officer Jamie Richardson told the outlet.

Richardson said that the restaurant’s employees will be offered new positions with the company.

“When a change like this occurs, White Castle reinvests proceeds from the sale in continuing to grow our business overall and focuses on remaining a great place to work,” Richardson said.

However, the move to sell the location has shocked nearby residents who view the fast-food joint as more of a fixture of the community.

Elmhurst resident James McMenamin said the closure marks “the end of an era” and reflects the “radically” changing environment along Queens Boulevard.

“The iconic location I believe opened about the time of the 39-40 World’s Fair, a familiar recognizable spot on the landscape that evoked nostalgia, in a radically and quickly being altered Queens Blvd.,” he told the outlet.

The commiseration extended to users online, who reflected on the decades of satisfied cravings.

“My grandfather used to take us there when we were little. It’s a sad day,” one Redditor said earlier this week. “Also, that space seems a little small for apartment buildings.

“Been there countless times growing up in 70-80s. Sad to see it go!” another user added.

“I love that place and my sadness about it is immense,” a third person said.

Local historian Michael Perlman told the Queens Chronicle that the location first opened in 1939, was rebuilt in 1963 and again in the 2000s, and was renovated just a year ago — calling it “senseless to undo that among its longtime cultural history.”

Even with 85 years behind it, the Elmhurst location isn’t New York City’s oldest White Castle, according to Spectrum News.

That title belongs to the White Castle on Fordham Road in the Bronx, which has been running since 1930.

White Castle got its start in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, founded by Walt Anderson and Billy Ingram, who officially incorporated the business in 1924.

It’s widely credited as the world’s first fast-food hamburger chain — famous for its small, square “sliders.”

Authorities have charged a man on parole, previously convicted of grand larceny, with igniting a fire that led to the tragic deaths of six individuals at a homeless hotel in New York. The blaze also forced dozens of others to evacuate, officials reported.

Tyler Russell, aged 24, was apprehended on Monday and faces charges including six counts of second-degree manslaughter alongside one count of arson. These charges stem from the devastating fire at the Knights Inn located in Endwell, as stated by the New York State Police.

Emergency services were called to the location around 6 a.m. following incidents of a fire outbreak at the Broome County hotel. Upon arrival, firefighters from the Endwell Fire Department encountered a rapidly spreading blaze with thick, black smoke emanating from the front and flames raging at the back of the building.

The fire escalated quickly, prompting several additional fire brigades and law enforcement agencies to arrive for support and containment of the situation.

At least six people died in the fire, and two others were transported to a hospital for treatment, police said. Authorities have not yet publicly identified the victims.

“First and foremost, our deepest thoughts and continuous prayers are with the victims and their families who were impacted by this morning’s tragic events. Please know that our entire department and community stand with you during this incredibly difficult time,” the Endwell Fire Department wrote on Facebook.

The American Red Cross assisted displaced guests, and a temporary shelter was established at Vestal United Methodist Church, police said. The United Way of Broome County also launched an emergency relief fund for victims of the fire that has raised tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

A volunteer with the Red Cross estimated that 73 people were displaced by the blaze, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.

Authorities have not announced a possible motive, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Russell previously served about two years in state prison on a grand larceny conviction before being released on parole in February, according to prison records cited by Syracuse.com.

Police said Russell was booked into the Broome County Jail on Monday pending arraignment.

The Knights Inn is one of several local hotels used by the Broome County Department of Social Services to house homeless people, according to WIVT.

More than twenty years after a harrowing tragedy, a former Las Vegas youth pastor has been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, who died when she fell from a cliff in Utah.

David Vander Meer, now 49, faces charges of murder and insurance fraud in connection with the death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer. Her fatal fall occurred in 2006 from Angel’s Landing, a well-known and treacherous spot in Zion National Park.

Reflecting on the loss of her daughter, Laura Gudenkauf shared with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I thought it was going to kill me,” underscoring the profound grief she felt.

Her father, Richard Gudenkauf, has long harbored doubts about the circumstances surrounding Bernadette’s untimely death, suggesting that something was amiss with the initial story.

“I did a lot of hiking with her. She was a mountain goat. For her to fall off a cliff? No,” he asserted, indicating his skepticism that Bernadette’s fall was merely an accident.

Vander Meer was arrested on Monday after law enforcement received a tip about the former youth pastor in 2022, claiming that he had groomed children involved in his church. 

He and Bernadette, who were 29 and 28 years old at the time, had been hiking on August 22, 2006, to celebrate their anniversary at Zion National Park, according to an affidavit seen by the Daily Mail. 

According to Bernadette’s mother, she was ‘getting ready to leave him.’

‘She told him if he didn’t change, she was going to divorce him because he kept spending all this time with this other woman,’ Laura told the outlet. 

Vander Meer, a youth pastor in Las Vegas at the time, claimed that the pair had begun their hike to Angel’s Landing in the early morning light at around 4.20am.

He told investigators that he set up a camera to take photographs of his wife with the sunrise behind her, but, as he moved their backpacks out of the shot, he heard his wife’s screams as she fell around 5,700 feet. 

According to the affidavit, the pair had recently raised their life insurance policies from 150k each to 600k each. 

Handwritten letters from Bernadette discovered by law enforcement expressed sadness in their marriage, while witnesses said she was financially restricted by Vander Meer and ‘gives all her money to David.’ 

‘At the time, due to lack of evidence, and limited investigation, Bernadette Vander Meer’s fall was ruled an accident and the case was closed,’ the affidavit said, noting, however, that investigators remained ‘suspicious.’

It wasn’t until April 6, 2022, when law enforcement received a tip from a former member – identified in documents as ‘SH’ – of Vander Meer’s youth group, that it was revealed he had been cheating on his wife at the time of her death. 

According to the tip, Vander Meer ‘had been using his position of special trust to groom kids’ in the church, documents claimed. 

‘One of the kids in his ministry that he had groomed and actively been in a sexual relationship with at the time of Bernadette’s death was SH,’ the affidavit said. 

The former youth group member claimed that she had been involved in an ‘ongoing sexual relationship’ with Vander Meer from the age of 16 until she was 19 to 20 years old. 

SH said Vander Meer had bought her gifts and paid her extra attention before he, at 25 years old at the time, took her virginity when she was 16. 

Their alleged relationship continued, which included their having sex at the church after hours as well as in pay-by-the-hour hotels. 

During one instance, Bernadette had shown up to the church after growing suspicious, and Vander Meer sent SH to tell her he was not there. 

Vander Meer also bought her a secret phone, SH told the attorney’s office, according to the affidavit.  

SH told detectives she felt it was ‘wrong’ and ended their relationship on August 20, 2006 – just a day before Vander Meer and his wife left for their hike in the Utah national park. 

She said Vander Meer had never discussed their future, except for one statement in which he said the only way for them to be together was if Bernadette were no longer alive, the affidavit stated. 

When she turned 18, Vander Meer encouraged her to move out of her family’s home and rent an apartment, which he supplied the money for, with another girl from the church. 

‘David told SH this was so they had a place to be together and have sex,’ the affidavit stated, noting that he was still married to Bernadette at the time.

According to the affidavit, Vander Meer told his youth group that he had been taking a picture of his wife before turning to grab something from his bag and hearing her scream ‘and she was gone.’

This story, according to the attorney’s office, conflicted with what he told investigators on the day of his wife’s death.

He and SH rekindled their relationship around two to three months after Bernadette’s death before they married in 2008, the affidavit stated. 

That same year, Vander Meer was fired for throwing parties at his home where underage members of his church would gamble and drink alcohol provided by the former youth pastor.

According to the document, the pair married ‘so David could be on SH’s health insurance,’ and they were publicly married in 2010. 

After discovering condom and hotel receipts, SH suspected Vander Meer of having an affair and, after testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease, the pair divorced in 2014. 

From 2007, following the life insurance payout of around $567,439, Vander Meer was said to have lived ‘lavishly,’ including buying cars, trips for the church youth group and plane tickets.

However, the case wasn’t followed-up on again until October 8, 2025, when Vander Meer’s former boss, Barry Diamond, told law enforcement he believed that Bernadette’s death wasn’t an accident. 

Diamond, the senior pastor of the church Vander Meer previously worked at, told the Washington County Attorney’s office that several former youth group members recalled inappropriate relationships with Vander Meer. 

The tip led to the interviews of several former members of Vander Meer’s youth group, which exposed the former youth pastor’s alleged infidelity and unfaithfulness as well as his ‘deceptive nature.’

The attorney’s office also noted Vander Meer’s ‘descriptive story telling’ to witnesses who then believed he had pushed his wife to her death. 

Bernadette was said to love family, friends, nature, music and performing on stage, according to her obituary. 

‘In everything she did, Bernadette would always give the glory and honor to God,’ the tribute said. 

She had worked at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino and was a worship leader at New Song Christian Church, where Vander Meer and her brother-in-law were also pastors.  

Vander Meer was arrested by the US Marshall’s Office on June 22 and is being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada while he awaits his court hearing set for June 25, according to ABC4. 

The Daily Mail reached out to the Washington County Attorney’s Office and the US Marshall’s Office for comment. 

A heated legal battle concluded on Tuesday with the sentencing of a former US Marine reservist along with seven other individuals. The group received lengthy prison terms following a shooting incident that injured a police officer during a demonstration at a Texas immigration detention center last year.

Prosecutors have labeled the incident an act of terrorism, asserting that the individuals involved had affiliations with the leftist militant group Antifa.

However, defense attorneys for the accused have strongly refuted any connections to Antifa. The families of the defendants voiced their dismay and outrage at what they perceive to be excessively harsh sentences.

At the center of the case was Benjamin Song, the Marine reservist convicted of discharging a firearm during the July 4 protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center, located near Dallas. Song received a 100-year prison sentence, marking it as the maximum possible punishment.

The remaining seven defendants, who faced trial in Fort Worth, were handed sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years in prison, reflecting the serious nature of the charges.

“I am livid,” said Lydia Koza, whose wife, Autumn Hill, was sentenced to 50 years in prison. “The government wants to take her entire life away because she attended a protest. Nobody died.”

US District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of two judges overseeing the proceedings, said what happened wasn’t a protest but “an assault on democracy.” All but one of the eight defendants sentenced Tuesday were convicted on terrorism charges.

“The need to deter this type of conduct is high,” O’Connor said.

The case drew attention beyond Texas as critics warned it could have wide-reaching impact on protests and First Amendment free-speech rights.

The Justice Department called it the first sentencing of “defendants affiliated with” Antifa after President Donald Trump last fall signed an executive order designating it as a domestic terrorist organization.

Prosecutors link protesters to Antifa

Trump issued the order even though there is no domestic equivalent to the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations.

Antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that the group’s actions — including bringing firearms, first aid kits and wearing body armor — were signals of nefarious intent.

Attorneys for the defendants have said there was no planned ambush and that protesters who brought firearms only did so for their own protection.

They argued the gathering was planned as a late-night demonstration with fireworks to show support for immigrants being held at Prairieland before gunshots broke out.

Prosecutors have said Song had yelled, “get to the rifles” and opened fire, striking a police officer who had just pulled up to the center.

Some defendants say they weren’t part of the planning

Phillip Hayes, Song’s attorney, rejected characterizations that the protesters were extremists and said his client will appeal the 100-year sentence.

“This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard,” Hayes said. “It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired.”

Prosecutor Frank Gatto urged the judge to impose stiff penalties.

“People with that kind of extremist beliefs need extra time in prison,” Gatto said. “They believe violence is justified.”

Defendants and their family members pleaded for leniency.

Autumn Hill said the gathering “seemed more like a party to me than anything else” and that she and others who participated “didn’t expect or want any violence or destruction of property to occur.”

Hill’s attorney, Cody Cofer, told the judge that there was no evidence she had a gun, nor that she believed in violence to achieve change. He said that after fireworks were set off, she was so conscientious that she made sure to pick up the trash left behind before leaving.

Chris Tolbert, defendant Savanna Batten’s attorney, has said that his client didn’t bring a firearm, spray paint or fireworks to the center, nor did she participate in the planning of the demonstration.

Hill and Batten both received 50-year sentences.

Another defendant, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was not at Prairieland the night of the shooting or involved in the planning, his attorney Christopher Weinbel said.

Sanchez Estrada, who is married to another of the defendants, was convicted only on charges of concealing documents.

Weinbel said his client just moved a box of his own belongings of artwork, poetry, journals and zines after the shooting. Nothing in the box was illegal, Weinbel said.

Sanchez Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Other defendants previously pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than take their case to trial.

Last week, federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

They claimed the demonstrators were members of A who conspired against the federal government to block arrests and deportations by setting up blockades around government buildings and throwing chunks of ice at federal vehicles, among other actions.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged ten individuals from Southern California for their roles in several healthcare fraud operations. One particularly notable case involved approximately $270 million in fake Medi-Cal claims, alongside another fraud attempt that allegedly swindled around $27 million from Medicare.

These charges form part of the Justice Department’s extensive “2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.” Through this initiative, they have indicted a total of 455 defendants, confronting fraudulent activities that sum up to over $6.5 billion.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hailed this operation as “the most significant collaboration between federal and state forces in the battle against healthcare fraud ever undertaken.”

“The days of fraudsters pilfering taxpayer money are over,” Blanche declared during a press event unveiling the operation. “If you intend to deceive or injure Americans, rest assured we will track you down, confiscate your assets, and prosecute you with full legal force.”

FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL

In the Central District of California, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against 10 defendants accused of defrauding government-funded healthcare programs or abusing their positions as medical professionals to illegally prescribe controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said five individuals were arrested in the greater Los Angeles area for allegedly participating in a scheme that involved submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for expensive prescription drugs.

Among those charged was Christina Mareik, 61, also known as Christina Marie Sanchez Hernandez, of Whittier.

Prosecutors allege Mareik helped facilitate fraudulent prescriptions that generated nearly $270 million in claims to Medi-Cal, which ultimately paid out more than $178 million.

According to prosecutors, the claims involved expensive drugs containing low-cost generic ingredients that were either not medically necessary or were never provided to the purported recipients.

Authorities said Mareik also sent thousands of fraudulent prescriptions to a co-conspirator and caused the submission of fraudulent prescriptions under her own name.

Mareik was arrested June 17 and charged with healthcare fraud.

The charges also include a San Fernando Valley man accused of operating hospice care companies that fraudulently billed Medicare approximately $27 million, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also charged Oren David Shachar, 59, of Van Nuys; Abraham Shin, 66, of Corona; and Jeannie Choi, 57, of Torrance.

The three defendants face a 16-count indictment alleging they conspired to defraud Medicare out of approximately $27 million.

The charges include conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, aggravated identity theft, monetary transactions involving criminally derived property exceeding $10,000, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

In recently unveiled phone calls, the woman who orchestrated one of the most heinous crimes in America is heard lamenting her conditions in prison. She shockingly trivializes the horrific murder of her expectant friend as simply “one horrible thing.”

Taylor Parker, currently 33, holds the grim title of being the youngest female under a death sentence in Texas. Her deadly plot culminated in the vicious killing of 21-year-old Reagan Simmons-Hancock, from whom she kidnapped an unborn child to maintain her fabricated pregnancy story.

In a frantic bid to uphold her deception, Parker visited Simmons-Hancock’s residence in New Boston on October 9, 2020. There, she stabbed the expectant mother over 100 times, crushed her skull with a hammer, and extracted the baby using a scalpel.

Parker subsequently fled with the newborn, who tragically did not survive. She abandoned Simmons-Hancock, leaving her to perish in the presence of her three-year-old daughter. Parker was apprehended while transporting the deceased infant to a hospital 50 miles away in Oklahoma.

Years after shocking the nation, this chilling narrative is once again in the limelight, thanks to its depiction in the Netflix documentary, Maternal Instinct.

Now, newly release phone records show how Parker regularly phoned her mother, Shona Prior, while behind bars in Bowie County Jail before her trial. 

And the disturbing calls revealed that the convicted killer seemingly had little remorse for her gruesome actions. 

On the phone to her mother, Parker described the murder as ‘one horrible thing,’ according to recordings from 2021 and 2022 obtained by the US Sun. 

At one point, her mother point blank asks if there was something psychologically wrong with her, according to the Sun. 

‘Mom, they would charge me with s***ing on a fly right now if they could, literally, that’s what it comes down to,’ Parker was heard responding. 

‘I mean, there’s another girl that’s here, and they literally just threw some bogus bulls*** on her just because they could, just because it makes them look better.

‘I mean, it’s like [you do] one horrible thing, they’ll do anything and whatever. I mean, that’s just what it comes down to. They don’t give a s***.’

Her mother fires back: ‘Well, Taylor, you know, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think you’re thinking about that like you should be thinking about that. 

‘I mean it’s not just you do one horrible thing and they try to throw the book at you.’

Prior then goes on to tell Parker she needed to ask her attorney when she would be able to give her a psychiatric evaluation ‘because something is not right there.’

Parker fell silent before telling her mother that she discovered she would be due for a bond reduction because she had been behind bars for 90 days, the Sun reported. 

In another call, Taylor asks about being able to wear makeup at court.  

‘Did you say anything to her about makeup? Because she doesn’t think that makeup is going to be an option for you,’ her mother said. 

Parker told Prior that someone on her legal team was ‘taking care of it.’

Her mom continues on to say: ‘So, the thing about it is if they try to discriminate you as a person, that will work in your favor in the long run because they’re not giving you a fair chance.’

‘You know, they’re wanting you to look like a homeless criminal,’ the mom added. 

‘They’re not wanting you to look like a human because that would be beneficial to you and detrimental to them.’

Parker agreed with her mother before going on to complain about the court proceedings, according to the Sun. 

Another call revealed Parker’s emotional response to discussing her two other children. She was upset that her ex-husband wouldn’t let her speak to her son. 

Prior had been the full-time guardian for Parker’s daughter, while Parker’s son was put in the care of her ex-husband. 

‘Mom, that really upsets me,’ Parker tearfully said, noting how she had to fight to be able to speak with her son on the phone. 

‘I’m sure it does,’ Prior bit back. ‘But you know what? I hate to say this, but if you’d have been thinking about the children that you had on earth, you might not be in the situation you’re in.’

‘But, I mean, that’s what’s done is done. And you have to go forward and deal with the consequences as best you can. You’re not the only one dealing with them. We’re all dealing with them.’

Parker was also heard whining that the lights in her cell were kept on 24 hours a day, an issue her mother, however, defended her on. 

‘I don’t understand. You have already been diagnosed with hemiplegic migraines, all right?’ the mom was heard saying. 

‘If those f***ing lights trigger a migraine episode, the damn jail is going to have more problems than they have right now with you.

‘I mean, they cannot facilitate you. And maybe, just maybe, you should hold your eyes open just as long as you can so it will trigger another episode. But I’m just saying it’s a matter of time before that comes back. And they can’t… they’re not equipped to facilitate an individual in that kind of condition, the condition that you used to be in.’

Parker goes on to say that she spoke to a psychiatrist who gave her a sleep aid, which was also to help her ‘night terrors’ and ‘depression.’

‘She said I probably talk to her every three weeks,’ Parker said. 

The phone calls were laid out in court by the prosecution, who said their contents proved Parker’s lack of remorse, troubling state of mind and manipulative behavior.

As time goes on, Parker appears to show some apology for her actions – but only after her mother stresses the difficulty of balancing court responsibilities and looking after Parker’s daughter. 

‘I’m sorry,’ Parker was heard saying through tears. 

‘I know you did not think about the consequences of your actions. I know that,’ Prior tells her daughter. 

In other calls Parker was heard complaining that she was strip-searched and her cell ‘ransacked’ over a Facebook rumor. 

‘That was a bogus lie just for them to tear up my stuff, and there should be repercussions for it,’ Parker told Prior. 

Parker’s legal team argued that the calls proved her attempts to maintain family ties in an attempt to evidence human emotion and motivations. 

However, the prosecution argued that a ‘normal person’ would be overcome with guilt or grief over murdering their friend and stealing their child. 

Parker’s phone calls, according to prosecutors, only evidenced self-pity, anger and superficial complaints about her life behind bars, the Sun reported. 

Since Parker was handed the death penalty, her horrific crimes have regained notoriety in the public eye after the true crime story was fashioned into a Netflix documentary, Maternal Instinct. 

Born in 1992, Parker was revealed to have experienced a troubled childhood marked by alleged sexual assault and struggles with obesity.

After dropping out of high school and becoming a mother at 17, she went on to have a second child in 2014 before undergoing a tubal ligation.

The following year, Parker underwent surgery and was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and endometriosis after suffering from severe pelvic cramps.

While she was under anesthesia, her mother authorized a hysterectomy, leaving Parker unable to have more children.

Friends and family would later describe the procedure as a devastating blow that appeared to have a lasting impact on her, leading her to become obsessed with the idea of having another child.

Over the next several years, Parker’s personal life continued to unravel. She divorced her first husband in 2017 and married Hunter Parker the following year.

Despite her hysterectomy, she repeatedly sought friends willing to act as surrogates so she could have another child.

Her second marriage ended in divorce in April 2019, and just weeks later, Parker began dating Wade Griffin, a hog farmer she had met at a rodeo.

Just a few months into their relationship, Parker told Griffin she was pregnant – a claim which was impossible as her hysterectomy had left her unable to carry a child.

Yet she maintained the lie for months, using a silicone pregnancy belly and fake ultrasound images purchased online.

She staged maternity photographs, hosted a gender reveal party and carefully controlled her interactions with Griffin to prevent him from discovering the truth.

‘During that summer, our time together was very limited,’ Griffin recalled in the documentary. 

‘She never hardly ever wanted me to see her naked or anything because she said she was insecure because of her stretch marks. We never really did anything at all, pretty much.’

As the fake pregnancy progressed, suspicions began to spread throughout the small Texas community.

While she was revealed to have manipulated Griffin, turning him against her family and lying about her wealth, Parker sparked a friendship with Simmons-Hancock. 

The pair met when Parker was hired as Simmons-Hancock’s engagement party and wedding photographer. Over time, the two women grew close, with Simmons-Hancock believing they were both expecting baby girls. 

By September of 2020, Parker’s deception was nearing its breaking point. For months, she had convinced Griffin, his family and much of the local community that she was expecting a baby girl. 

Yet, the date she had repeatedly claimed as her due date was fast approaching, and there was no real pregnancy to conceal.

As the pressure mounted, Parker began searching online for pregnant women, focusing her attention on maternity consignment stores and pregnancy clinics in the area.

In the days leading up to the murder, prosecutors said Parker’s internet searches became even more disturbing.

Testimony revealed that she had watched videos explaining how to perform a C-section. 

Then, on the day of the killing, she viewed an instructional medical video demonstrating how to conduct a physical examination on a premature infant born at 35 weeks’ gestation – the exact gestational age of her victim’s baby.

An autopsy later revealed that Simmons-Hancock suffered 113 sharp force injuries, including 15 stab wounds and 98 incised wounds, as well as 39 blunt force injuries. 

Medical examiner Dr Melinda Flores testified that the cause of death was ‘homicide from traumatic extraction from the uterus with both sharp and blunt force injuries’.

A separate examination determined that her unborn child – Braxlynn Sage – also died as a result of the violent extraction from her mother’s womb.

The medical examiner found bruising on the baby’s scalp and umbilical cord, indicating that some of the blows delivered to Reagan’s abdomen had also struck Braxlynn.

Parker was pulled over in Texas after an officer noticed her driving erratically. She told the officer that she had given birth and the baby wasn’t breathing, and the officer called for an ambulance. 

But after arriving at the hospital and the baby was pronounced dead, Simmons-Hancock’s body was discovered in Texas. 

Hospital staff became suspicious when Parker refused to undergo a vaginal examination. Tests soon confirmed that she had not been pregnant and no longer had a uterus.

Nearly two hours of bodycam footage saw Oklahoma detectives arriving at the hospital and questioning Parker, who is in a hospital bed, about the stolen baby.

Initially, she denied the crime, claiming she was pregnant and the baby was hers. However, after a doctor performed a vaginal exam confirming the lie, she began to open up.

The interrogation footage showed Parker repeatedly changing her story, from claiming she gave birth on the roadside to alleging a physical fight with Simmons-Hancock.

Following her confession, Parker was arrested, initiating two years of legal proceedings that exposed gruesome details of her planned murder of her supposed friend. 

After weeks of harrowing evidence and emotional testimony, the jury finally delivered its verdict – Parker was found guilty of capital murder. 

A month later, on November 9, 2022, she was sentenced to death by the trial court upon the jury’s unanimous recommendation for capital punishment.

Several subsequent appeals in 2025 and 2026 were denied, including by the Supreme Court in May of this year.

Parker is now the youngest woman and one of only seven female convicts on death row in Texas.