Overview
- Tanner Horner, 34, pleaded guilty Tuesday to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in the 2022 abduction and killing of 7-year-old Athena Strand, moving the case straight to the punishment phase.
- Prosecutors showed a still image from inside the FedEx truck that captured Athena alive and uninjured behind the driver’s seat, which they said undercuts Horner’s earlier claim that he panicked after an accidental collision.
- Following Tuesday’s opening statements, the court outlined that jurors will hear truck audio and see hours of interrogation video, with investigators also describing DNA under Athena’s fingernails that they said points to a violent struggle.
- The defense asked jurors to choose life without parole, citing Horner’s autism diagnosis, mental-health history, possible brain injury, and lead exposure as mitigating factors in the sentencing decision.
- The trial was moved from Wise County to Tarrant County for venue reasons, and the case has already spurred Texas to create an “Athena Alert” that lets authorities issue an Amber Alert-style notice even when some original criteria are not met.