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Death sentence, land dispute, endangered buildings, baseball coach gone. Today’s top stories

By Edited by Steve Coffman. Summaries produced with AI assistance.
Defendant Tanner Horner is removed from the courtroom after being sentenced to the death penalty on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. The jury's verdict was unanimous on both questions and found that Horner is a future danger to society and that there were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to justify a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Defendant Tanner Horner is removed from the courtroom after being sentenced to the death penalty on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. The jury's verdict was unanimous on both questions and found that Horner is a future danger to society and that there were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to justify a sentence of life in prison without parole. Amanda McCoy FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

The Star-Telegram covered major developments across North Texas on May 6, 2026, from a high-profile capital murder verdict to local preservation efforts. Here is a digest of the day’s top stories.

A Tarrant County jury sentenced former FedEx driver Tanner Horner to death for the 2022 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, deliberating less than three hours on the 17th day of his capital murder trial. Horner lured the child into his FedEx truck outside her father’s Wise County home, sexually assaulted her and dumped her body along the Trinity River. Reporting by Harriet Ramos.

Residents of the Pyramid Acres subdivision in southwest Tarrant County say landowner Nancy Rimmer has unlawfully blocked their access to Bear Creek, a navigable public waterway, by posting no-trespassing signs, installing surveillance cameras and hiring armed guards. Rimmer’s company maintains the land is private, citing an October 2024 county letter, while residents point to plats showing public roadways dedicated to the county in the 1970s. Reporting by Matthew Adams.

Mike Hafley is no longer the head baseball coach at Poolville High School after the team was removed from the UIL playoffs over a self-reported violation involving a missing prior athletic participation form. Poolville had won District 13-2A with an 8-1 record before relinquishing its title and playoff berth. Reporting by Charles Baggarly.

Historic Fort Worth released its 2026 most endangered places list on May 5, highlighting the former Swift meat packing plant, the Mary Elizabeth Apartments, the Fort Worth Community Arts Center and the T&P Warehouse. The city is petitioning a Tarrant County court to place the Mary Elizabeth Apartments into receivership over unpaid water bills and code violations. Reporting by Harrison Mantas.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.

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