Overview
- Jurors in Fort Worth heard more defense experts and character witnesses Wednesday as the mitigation case neared its end in the punishment phase for Tanner Horner, who pleaded guilty on April 7 to killing 7‑year‑old Athena Strand.
- Child forensic psychiatrist Dr. Eileen Ryan told the jury Horner has longstanding diagnoses — including autism and mood disorders — but said they do not excuse the crime or establish insanity.
- Defense expert Dr. Amy Fritz testified that Horner struggled to grasp others’ perspectives, citing a jail call where his mother had to explain why inmates viewed him as a “monster,” and she said his calm speech in the truck before the abduction did not show the dysregulation she often sees in autism.
- Ryan recounted Horner’s shifting explanations, including a claim that he kidnapped Athena after she saw him using cocaine, a narrative that followed his earlier false story about accidentally hitting her with his delivery truck.
- Prosecutors have anchored their case with video and audio from the FedEx truck capturing the abduction and Athena’s final moments, medical examiner findings of blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation, and DNA testimony that could not exclude Horner, as demonstrators outside the courthouse called for a death sentence and deliberations are expected soon.