Day 9 recap: Tanner Horner’s defense begins case in Athena Strand murder trial
Defense attorneys began presenting their case Wednesday morning in the trial of Tanner Horner, who has pleaded guilty to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand.
Horner’s mother was one of the first witnesses to testify as the defense tries to convince the jury that Horner should be sentenced to life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty. The defense case also includes testimony from psychology experts.
At the start of the prosecution’s case on April 7, Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder in the course of kidnapping. The jury will decide his punishment.
The former FedEx driver abducted and killed Athena on Nov. 30, 2022, after delivering a package to her rural Wise County home. Horner 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 murder Athena.
Last Thursday, the prosecution showed the jurors chilling video and audio evidence that included Athena’s last moments inside the FedEx van.
In interviews with investigators, Horner blamed an alter ego called “Zero” for the girl’s death.
The trial is being held at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth and is expected to continue into early May.
Watch Wednesday’s video of the trial here with analysis from WFAA-TV, and follow Star-Telegram.com for updates.
2:30 p.m. Trial adjourns for today
Court ended for the day after brief testimony from Tanner Horner’s great-aunt, who spoke about his father’s difficult childhood. His father, Terry Horner, died about two years ago when he was hit by a motorcycle, according to testimony.
The defense will continue with its case on Thursday morning.
1:30 p.m. Horner’s mom continues testimony
After the lunch break, Melissa Horner continued testifying. She said her son Tanner Horner was bullied at school and would hit himself in the head.
Tanner also was bullied by his grandfather, who was Melissa’s second stepfather, she said. The mother and son lived with his grandparents for most of Tanner’s life. She said that she and her stepfather would fight and he once tackled her and tried to gouge her eyes out before Tanner intervened.
She said that after Tanner’s son was born in 2021, he was excited about being a father but one day he said, “Mom, please come home. I need you to take the baby for a bit.” She thought he was scared that he might hurt the baby.
The defense attorney began asking about the day Tanner kidnapped and killed Athena: Nov. 30, 2022. Melissa Horner said that Tanner was arguing with his fiance about money that day. Tanner and his baby’s mother were living in a shed behind the house where his mother and grandmother lived.
Asked how she feels knowing what her son did to 7-year-old Athena, Melissa Horner said tearfully, “I’m so angry. ... She was just a baby.”
In spite of everything she knows about the case, she said, “Of course I love my son. I don’t love who did that though. I don’t know who that was.”
As the defendant’s mother continued to cry, Judge George Gallagher asked if she needed to take a break and sent the jury out of the room for a few minutes.
After the break, the prosecution asked Melissa Horner a few questions, confirming that Tanner played sports and was in several bands and other activities with people his age. “He tried,” she said.
Asked what she believes about what Tanner did to Athena, the mother said at first she believed what her son told her. In a phone call to his mother from jail, he said he backed into the little girl with his FedEx van and abducted and strangled her in a panic.
Asked what she believes now, she said she has watched the court livestream and “don’t get me thrown in jail” for watching the trial prior to her testimony, which is against the judge’s order.
After seeing the evidence against her son, she testified, “I don’t know what to say.” She began crying again and apologized to Athena’s family, saying, “I’m so sorry.”
11:10 a.m. Tanner Horner’s mother testifies
Tanner Horner’s mother, Melissa Horner, is testifying for the defense. She asked the court to have her face blurred on the livestream video.
Horner’s mother testified that she was sexually abused by her first stepfather beginning when she was 4 years old and she went to rehab at 14 for marijuana.
She began working as a stripper when she was 17 and she drank alcohol heavily — “enough to get cirrhosis” — in order to work up the courage to get on stage, she testified.
“It seemed to fit in with my life,” she said of working at the strip club. “I think when you’re abused at such a young age, it becomes a self concept, you know, this is what I’m here for. I wish I hadn’t but I did.”
She also used drugs including meth, heroin and “everything I could get my hands on,” she said.
She said that Horner’s father, who is now deceased, raped her on the first night they met. She was 17 and he was 29, she said.
She married him at 19. “It wasn’t love. But, yeah, I married him,” she said. “It goes back to what I thought I was about.”
After she became pregnant with Tanner, she continued drinking and using drugs for about 8 weeks before she realized she was pregnant, she testified. She then stopped using most drugs and alcohol because she wanted her baby to be healthy, but she continued to smoke cigarettes and marijuana.
She said that when Tanner was a child, he found her after an overdose and thought she was dead. During his childhood she was arrested on drug and prostitution charges and went to prison. She took Tanner with her when she stayed at rehab facilities, she said. She is currently not using drugs and is on methadone, she said.
When Tanner started school, she noticed he was different from other children and the other kids didn’t like him, she testified. “He wanted to get along with people, but they weren’t interested in having conversations with him,” his mother said. “It was very sad to watch.”
She said she took Tanner to a doctor and he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder.
The trial is on a lunch break until about 1:15 p.m.
9 a.m. Psychology professor testifies
Dr. John Edens, a professor of psychology at Texas A&M University, is testifying.
One study that Edens was involved in was initiated by the Texas Defender Service and looked at whether experts accurately predicted future violence by defendants. The study tracked 155 Texas capital murder cases in which an expert testified the defendant would be a continuing threat to society and that resulted in a death sentence. Researchers tracked the defendants’ behavior while they were incarcerated. Over a 10-year period, eight of those prisoners, or 5%, were disciplined for severe acts of violence, which the prison system defined as causing injuries that required treatment beyond first aid. None of the defendants committed murders in prison during that time, Edens testified.
Edens did not conduct a psychological evaluation of Horner and is not offering an opinion on whether Horner presents a risk of future violence.
Future dangerousness is a key question in death penalty cases in Texas, according to state law. If jurors find in their deliberations that Horner is likely to present a continuing threat to society, then they will consider the question of whether there is any mitigating evidence that would justify a sentence of life in prison instead of death. Mitigating evidence is open to the interpretation of the jurors, but they could consider issues such as the defendant’s mental health.
The prosecution began cross-examining Edens about 10 a.m. The psychologist said that he has testified in about 15 cases since 2000 and has been hired as a consultant in more than 50 cases, usually by the defense in capital murder cases, including appeals.
Related to the study at Texas prisons, the prosecutor noted that death-row prisoners are under increased security compared with the general population. Edens agreed but said that 48 of the prisoners in the study were transferred into the general population at some point and researchers looked at their disciplinary history during that time.
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 8:09 AM.
