Live updates: Tanner Horner’s defense case in Athena Strand murder trial Day 11
Defense attorneys continue presenting their case Friday 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. Witnesses Thursday focused on Horner’s childhood, including discussion of autism, and lead exposure after he ate coins as a toddler.
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 week, the prosecution showed the jurors chilling video and audio evidence that included Athena’s last moments after Horner lured her 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 live video of the trial here with analysis from WFAA-TV, and follow Star-Telegram.com for updates.
9:45 a.m. Speech pathologist testifies about home visits
A retired in-home facilitator and speech pathologist who worked with Tanner Horner when he was in school in Azle ISD is testifying. The attorneys called the witness by her first name, Beth.
While Horner was receiving special education services for autism, she visited Horner at his home, spoke with his family, and took him out into the community to work on his behavior and social skills. She also observed his behavior with other students.
“He was definitely bullied through school,” she said. “That was aggravating to him. And he got angry, of course.”
She said “his anger would be pretty bad at times” when other students played jokes on him because he didn’t understand. But she said she never saw him lash out at other students.
During the home visits, she testified, she saw that Horner was mostly being raised by his grandmother. She met his mother once or twice and said his mother’s inconsistent presence in the home upset Tanner’s routines.
“She just wasn’t a mother. She didn’t have motherly instincts. She had problems of her own, and Tanner was put on the back burner.”
She also worked with Horner on his problems with foreseeing the consequences of his actions. “He had learned to stop what he was doing if it didn’t feel like it was right,” she said. “In the beginning, he could not do that.”
She said she liked Tanner and thought he was “a great kid.” She did not know him as an adult.
Defense attorney Susan Anderson asked Beth if she understood that Horner has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering Athena. Anderson asked if autism is an excuse or defense for Horner’s crimes, and the witness said no.
“I’ll tell you where it comes in, in my mind, is this young man should have never been in that truck by himself,” she said.
This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 8:43 AM.
