Day 12 recap: Tanner Horner’s defense case in Athena Strand murder trial
Defense attorneys continued presenting their case Monday 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 defense witnesses to testify last week as Horner’s lawyers try to convince the jury that he should be sentenced to life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty. Witnesses have 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.
The prosecution showed the jurors chilling video and audio evidence that included Athena’s last moments after Horner lured her inside the FedEx van. She died from blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation, and Horner dumped her naked body in the water along the Trinity River. Horner could not be excluded as the source of male DNA found on swabs in the victim’s sexual assault kit, a DNA analyst testified.
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 Monday’s video of the trial here with analysis from WFAA-TV, and follow Star-Telegram.com for updates.
2:31 p.m. Cross-examination of speech-language pathologist
Prosecuting attorney Michelle Duell asked speech-language pathologist Dr. Amy Fritz about her evaluation of Horner. Fritz confirmed that she didn’t diagnose Horner with autism spectrum disorder or fetal alcohol syndrome. Those diagnoses had been made by someone else at an earlier time, she said.
Fritz said she watched clips from the abduction video that showed Horner kidnapping Athena, but she didn’t review the full 30-40 hours of footage that were available both before and after the crime. She acknowledged it might have been helpful to see more of Horner’s response after the crime.
Fritz also said she didn’t interview any of the special education providers from Horner’s school days.
Duell asked Fritz about Horner’s work record. He was employed at Walmart for about a year and a half, but was fired after an altercation with a customer. He also lost a job with Albertsons after a fight with his roommate.
“His autism didn’t mean that he couldn’t hold a job. Do you agree with that?” Duell asked. Fritz said he had a history of losing jobs due to “emotion dysregulation.”
In answer to further examination by defense attorney Susan Anderson, Fritz said Horner had difficulties with “adulting.” There were several factors, including transportation issues and struggles with his work ethic, that led to him being fired or quitting his various jobs.
Duell also questioned Fritz’s conclusion that Horner’s language challenges impacted his communication with law enforcement and the effectiveness of his “oral explanations and storytelling.”
Duell pointed out that Horner was able to effectively lie to FBI investigators about seeing a green van on the Strand property and gave the Texas Rangers a false but detailed explanation of hitting Athena with the FedEx truck.
“He was able to concisely and very clearly give turn-by-turn directions and explanation of where Athena Strand’s body was found in Bobo’s Crossing,” Duell said.
Fritz stated in her report that Horner’s letter to Athena’s family, written immediately before his May 2023 suicide attempt, showed “deep empathy.” Duell said Horner appeared to be shifting blame in the letter and still did not tell the family the truth about what he did to their daughter.
Fritz said the language in the letter showed empathy and remorse, and that’s what she’s giving her opinion on.
“Completely lied to me,” Fritz said of what Horner told her about the crime when she evaluated him in January 2026. She said he told her the version he’d originally given law enforcement: that he’d hit Athena with his FedEx truck because there was no backup camera in the van and then freaked out because he didn’t know what to do.
The jury took a break for about 10 minutes and the cross-examination resumed at 3:15 p.m.
Fritz said she didn’t see a “triggering event” for Horner’s actions.
When Duell asked if Horner’s language abilities caused him to kill Athena, Fritz said no.
“And you’re certainly not saying that Tanner Horner is not capable of understanding right from wrong?” Duell asked.
“That’s right,” Fritz replied.
After Fritz’s testimony, the trial ended for the day about 3:30 p.m. It will continue with more witnesses on Tuesday.
12:54 p.m. Testimony of speech-language pathologist
Dr. Amy Fritz, a speech-language pathologist who evaluated Horner in the Tarrant County Jail in January 2026, is telling the jury about the defendant’s autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.
Fritz said she reviewed Horner’s educational records and his social history, including his family life. She also looked over his medical records and interviewed his grandmother.
Horner was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, now known as autism spectrum disorder or level one autism, as a child. Fritz said her findings were consistent with that. She met with Horner over a period of two days to assess his communication and social language skills.
According to Fritz, Horner’s vocabulary and cognitive abilities are within normal limits, but he has profound deficits in social communication skills. He also struggles to understand nuances in language.
“Concept words were harder for Mr. Horner to understand and to use in his own speech,” Fritz said.
Fritz testified that Horner has alexithymia, which is a difficulty processing his own emotions and understanding the emotional state of others. She said it’s fairly common in those with autism spectrum disorder.
Anderson asked if Horner’s autism caused him to murder Athena or was an excuse for his actions, and Fritz said no.
Fritz noted in her evaluations that Horner does have the ability to show empathy and remorse. She testified that the best evidence of that was in his note to Athena’s family shortly before attempting suicide in May 2023.
Anderson asked Fritz about Horner blaming his “alter ego” Zero for Athena’s death, and the possibility of a multiple personality disorder.
Fritz said she’s not an expert in multiple personality disorders, but “it was pretty obvious to me that Zero does not exist and Mr. Horner was using him as a tool to explain what had happened.”
10:39 a.m. Horner’s childhood friend testifies
Reba is another character witness for the defense. She and Horner were best friends in fifth grade, she said, and they dated briefly in high school and again as adults.
They met on the playground in fifth grade and would hang out and play kickball together. Sometimes they would pretend they were characters in the Harry Potter series, Reba said.
“He was energetic, talkative, fun to be around,” Reba said.
The two stayed friends in high school, and Reba attended church services with Horner’s family. She remembers that Horner was insecure about being in the high school choir because his voice was changing. He wanted to focus on playing instruments and wanted a career in music, she said.
Reba recalls going to the mall with Horner and going out to eat with him and his grandparents. She would also hang out at Horner’s house.
Reba described Horner as sweet and gentlemanly. They dated for a short time in high school after Horner admitted he had a crush on her, she said. Horner treated her well and was never violent with her or raised his voice, Reba testified. They broke up because Reba wanted to date someone else.
“He was upset and had every right to be upset,” Reba said of Horner’s reaction to the breakup. One time he chased after her and her new boyfriend because he wanted to know more about why the breakup had happened. Reba said she crossed to street to where her mom was waiting and Horner didn’t pursue her any further.
After the breakup, Horner walked nearly 20 miles to Reba’s house. He wanted to clarify what was going on, Reba said.
“I was shocked that he walked that far and was afraid of him getting hit by a car,” Reba said. She wasn’t concerned that he’d showed up to do her harm.
Reba later got married but still kept in touch with Horner off and on. She and her husband separated around 13 years ago, and she reached out to Horner again. Reba said she was interested in him romantically, but Horner just wanted to be “friends with benefits,” she said.
Reba testified that Horner always treated her well. She broke up with him again after Horner made it clear he wasn’t ready to be a father. He wanted to focus on his music, she said.
Dr. Amy Fritz, a speech-language pathologist who evaluated Horner in the jail, is expected to testify next. The jury is on lunch break until 1 p.m.
9:56 a.m. Horner’s former pastor testifies
Gary, a lead pastor at Horner’s church, is testifying.
Horner started at the church around junior high and was part of the youth ministry. Gary said the leaders were aware he had a form of autism. Sometimes he would get upset, and act in a way that was out of the ordinary. Gary said he never took it out on others, but he did get angry with himself and hit himself.
Gary said he would have conversations with Horner and try to give him guidance and direction. Horner participated in music in the youth group’s fine arts team. He had to try out to make the team, but once he did, “I think that gave him a sense of belonging,” Gary said.
Gary recalls once that Horner’s drumstick broke during a music competition in front of judges. It sent him into a panic, Gary testified. Someone else gave him a stick, and he was able to continue, but “for some reason that really impacted Tanner,” Gary said. He was really upset with himself.
Horner attended church with his grandparents, but stopped attending regularly when he started to drive on his own, Gary said. He did come after he graduated from high school and received the Bible the church always gave to graduates.
Gary said his last contact with Horner was after Athena’s death. He got a call that Horner wanted to see him at the jail. Gary testified that he didn’t talk with Horner about the specifics of what happened, but just wanted to pray with him and make sure he understood the seriousness of his actions.
“My goal was, ‘Tanner do you understand the severity ... that this is going to be life-changing,’” Gary said. He wanted Horner to know that the consequences weren’t going to go away.
9:14 a.m. Testimony of Azle ISD special educator
Marie, a former special educator who worked with Tanner Horner during his time at Azle ISD, is testifying. She helped students in the content mastery program. Horner would come to the learning lab, and she would assist him with science and social studies projects he’d been given in his general classroom, she said.
She recalls that “he was a pleasant young man.”
Marie doesn’t remember that Horner talked to her very much about his home life, but she met Horner’s grandparents at his Admission, Review, and Dismissal meetings that were part of the special education program.
She said Horner was diagnosed as a student with a learning disability, but she’s not sure in what subject. He was also diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. A diagnostician from the school would have evaluated him, Marie said.
Horner came to Azle ISD in sixth grade. Marie worked with Horner during all four years of high school.
“I have no doubt it helped him,” she said of the support Horner received in the content mastery program.
Marie said once Horner was redirected once or twice, he did what he was supposed to do and would stay on task. He was typically easy to redirect, she said.
Defense attorney Susan Anderson asked about Horner’s ability to problem solve. Marie said he could usually make good decisions if given enough time. If he felt pressured, he didn’t always make the best choices, she testified.
She saw him act out once or twice when his emotions got the better of his ability to reason. He would need some help to calm down, Marie said. She believes he had at least one instance where he got physically aggressive, but she didn’t see it.
There are two instances of fighting/mutual combat listed on Horner’s records from high school. Marie said the records are vague, and it’s not clear who started the altercation or if Horner was just acting to defend himself in those instances. Marie doesn’t remember him having any serious disciplinary problems.
There were also code of conduct violations on Horner’s record, but it’s not clear what those were.
Marie had a chance to watch Horner interact with his peers on a regular basis. He seemed more comfortable with those in the special education program, but he also had friends who were not in that program, Marie said.
“Most of the time I think he was accepted,” she said of his interactions with other students, but sometimes he was ostracized or not treated like he should have been.
Horner graduated from high school. All the accommodations he received through the special education program ended at the at time, Marie said.
“He was always pleasant to interact with,” Marie said. He always came willingly and would accept redirection and the assignments he came to complete, she said.
“He worked hard to achieve,” Marie said of Horner’s efforts during high school.
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 8:09 AM.
