Motion to bar death penalty for accused Athena Strand killer due to autism denied
Tanner Horner, the FedEx driver accused of kidnapping and killing North Texas girl Athena Strand, appeared in a Tarrant County criminal court Tuesday and Wednesday for pre-trial hearings leading up to jury selection for his trial.
Horner, 34, is being held at the Tarrant County Jail as he awaits trial this spring. He’s been indicted on charges of aggravated kidnapping and capital murder of a child. The Wise County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case and will seek the death penalty for Horner if he’s convicted of capital murder.
Horner’s attorneys filed a motion Jan. 13 seeking to remove the death penalty as a sentencing option due to Horner’s autism. Presiding Judge George Gallagher prepared to hear the motion Wednesday. Wise County District Attorney James Stainton objected, saying the motion doesn’t include supporting evidence that Horner was actually diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Defense attorney Susan Anderson clarified that the motion was intended to lay the groundwork for precluding the death penalty if it can be proved that Horner has autism. She said testimony at the trial will show he does.
Even though autism is not considered an intellectual disability, some of the symptoms overlap, Anderson said. She argued that Horner’s condition reduces his “moral culpability,” and sentencing him to death would violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Gallagher denied the motion but told Horner’s attorneys they can share the same information in court in front of the jury.
The majority of the motions in the case will be decided outside the courtroom. On Tuesday, Gallagher heard arguments from the defense that prosecutors improperly used the grand jury to subpoena records that had no bearing on the accusations against Horner.
“Justice can’t be done when the defendant’s rights are violated,” Anderson told the court.
Anderson alleges that Horner’s due-process rights were violated by the prosecutors’ investigation and requested that the judge dismiss the indictment, disqualify the District Attorney’s Office or preclude the death penalty as a sentencing option. Gallagher denied the motion, as well as another motion to suppress data retrieved from Horner’s cellphone.
He granted a motion that the jurors not be filmed during the upcoming trial.
Horner, a FedEx contract driver, delivered a Christmas gift of Barbies intended for Athena to her father’s home near the Wise County town of Paradise on Nov. 30, 2022. The 7-year-old went missing at the time of the delivery, and her body was found two days later at a site along the Trinity River, less than 10 miles from the house.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Horner confessed to authorities and said that he backed into Athena with his FedEx truck. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but he kidnapped her, strangled her and killed her so she couldn’t tell her father about the accident, he said.
Horner was indicted in Wise County, but the trial was moved to Tarrant County after defense attorneys asked for a change of venue, citing pre-trial publicity as a barrier to Horner receiving a fair trial.
The trial is scheduled to begin April 7 in the 297th District Court. Jury selection will begin Jan. 29.
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 7:50 PM.
