Day 6 trial recap: Two women testify Tanner Horner raped them when they were 16
The trial of Tanner Horner resumed Tuesday, April 14, with more prosecution evidence in the killing of 7-year-old Athena Strand, including testimony from two women who allege Horner raped them when they were 16 years old.
At the start of evidence presentation in the trial on April 7, Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder in the course of kidnapping. The jury will decide his punishment. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and the defense is asking for a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Horner, a former FedEx driver who abducted and killed Athena on Nov. 30, 2022, while delivering a package to her rural Wise County home, told a false story about hitting the little girl with his van and then strangling her in a panic, according to testimony of the case’s lead investigator, Texas Ranger Job Espinoza. Investigators believe Horner planned to kidnap and kill Athena.
In interviews, Horner blamed an alter ego called “Zero” for the girl’s death, and he pretended to be Zero when he led Espinoza to Athena’s body, the ranger said.
The trial is being held at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth.
Watch live video of the trial here, and follow Star-Telegram.com for updates.
2:15 p.m. Forensic analyst testifies
Jacqueline Ferrara, who was a forensic analyst with the Texas DPS lab, testified remotely.
She said that male DNA was found on swabs from Athena’s sexual assault kit. The initial tests that she performed were to help determine which samples should undergo DNA testing, she said.
She also tested items of clothing collected by investigators. A stained FedEx polo shirt found at Horner’s home tested presumptively positive for blood, and semen was found on the shirt. Semen also was found on Horner’s sweatshirt, jeans and underwear.
Fingernail clippings from Athena’s right hand tested presumptively positive for blood, according to the testimony.
When questioned by the defense, Ferrara said she couldn’t determine how old the stains on the clothing were.
Ferrara was the last witness for today, and court adjourned about 3 p.m.
Testimony about the DNA analysis of the evidence is expected on Wednesday.
1:45 p.m. Sexual assault testimony continues
The second woman who accused Horner of rape testified he told her that he liked BDSM and the idea of tying people up and that he was into “consensual nonconsent” or rape fantasies.
She talked about how the assault affected her, saying she lost her sense of self and “I was angry at everybody and everything.”
Both women reported the sexual assault allegations to law enforcement in 2022 after Horner’s arrest in the Athena Strand case. After she learned about what happened to Athena, the woman felt like she was the 16-year-old version of herself again, she testified, and she struggled with feelings of guilt and shame about not speaking up sooner.
11:50 a.m. Second woman says Horner raped her
A second woman is testifying that Horner raped her in 2014 when she was 16 and he was 23.
She said that Horner tried to convince her to date him and she told him no because of their age difference. She said she clearly communicated that she didn’t want a relationship with him.
She said that Horner told her to lie to his mother and bandmates about her age and say that she was 18.
In December 2014, she said, they had been drinking at a party and she lay down on a bed to sleep. Horner was lying on the other side of the bed and tried to cuddle with her and she said no, she testified.
The woman said she woke up to Horner raping her. She said she remembers him pinning her hand behind her back.
The trial is taking a lunch break until 1:30 p.m.
10:40 a.m. Witness testifies about sexual assault charges
A woman is testifying that Horner sexually assaulted her in 2013 when she was 16 years old and Horner was 22.
Horner has been indicted in Tarrant County on charges of sexual assault of a child in connection with those allegations.
The woman’s face is blurred on the livestream video because of the nature of the allegations.
The woman said that she met Horner when she was dating a man who was in a band with the defendant. She said she and Horner were friendly at first. They began messaging over Facebook and talked about music and anime.
After she and her boyfriend broke up, she said, she dated Horner to try to upset the other man, which she said was “childish.”
She testified that Horner sexually assaulted her twice while she was sleeping. She said that a day or two after the first assault, she told him she did not want to have sex with him and did not want a relationship with him.
The second time, she testified, “I completely froze, shut down, did not know what to do and just let it happen.”
When questioned by Horner’s defense attorney Susan Anderson, the woman said she remembered Horner saying he had Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder.
Anderson asked whether the woman told a Fort Worth police detective that the first sexual encounter was consensual. She testified that she did say that but she was a minor at the time and unable to consent. She said she willingly went to the shed where Horner was living and planned to spend the night there.
Asked whether she told an investigator that the second encounter was consensual, she said she did not recall talking about that. She said that she continued to message Horner after the incidents and once asked him for a ride to a concert.
9:50 a.m. Horner made another delivery
Wise County Constable Kevin Huffman testified that Horner delivered a package to his home on Nov. 29, 2022, the day before the defendant kidnapped and killed Athena.
Huffman said that he and his wife were home when the delivery was made, and their two daughters, ages 7 and 10, were playing in the yard. Their family lived on the same rural road in Paradise as the Strand family.
The prosecution showed Huffman screenshots from surveillance video that showed his youngest daughter near the back of the FedEx van as the father came out the front door of the house.
Video from the FedEx van showing Horner make that delivery was played for the jurors as a defense attorney questioned Huffman. In the video, Horner is heard asking the children if their parents are home, and he mentions “a Christmastime precaution,” which the defense attorney suggested was to make sure the parents knew about the package so as not to spoil a Christmas surprise for the kids.
Huffman said that Horner was polite and courteous during the delivery and that he did not see a reason to be concerned for his children’s safety at that time.
9:10 a.m. Horner’s cellphone data
The first witness testifying on Tuesday is Scott Morris, a digital forensic examiner for the FBI, who recovered data from Horner’s cellphone.
The data shows that in the days after he killed Athena, while hundreds of officers and volunteers were looking for the missing child, Horner searched for information about a missing Paradise, Texas girl. He also looked at photos of Athena that were shared on Facebook, as well as media coverage and photos of the missing person investigation.
Searches on Horner’s phone also included asking whether cameras in FedEx trucks record constantly. Prosecutors have said that Horner covered up the lens on his FedEx van’s camera shortly after he kidnapped Athena, but the camera still recorded audio when he killed her. That audio will be played for the jurors later this week but won’t be shown on the livestream.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 8:24 AM.
