Live updates: Horner’s grandmother testifies in Athena Strand murder trial Day 15
Tanner Horner’s grandmother testified Thursday afternoon as defense attorneys continue presenting their case in the trial of the former FedEx driver who has pleaded guilty to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand.
The jury arrived about 10:30 a.m. Thursday to hear more testimony in the defense case. 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, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, bullying, sexual abuse, 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.
The prosecution told the jury that Horner sexually assaulted Athena before killing her, and a DNA analyst testified that Horner could not be excluded as the source of male DNA found on swabs in the victim’s sexual assault kit.
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 will continue into next week, with closing arguments expected on Tuesday.
Watch live video of the trial here with analysis from WFAA-TV, and follow Star-Telegram.com for updates.
3:15 p.m. Prosecution questions grandmother
When questioned by a prosecutor, Horner’s grandmother, Jackie, said that Tanner knows right from wrong and he knows it’s wrong to sexually assault and kill a child.
“Totally shocked,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it myself. It doesn’t sound like him.”
The prosecutor noted that when Athena was reported missing, Jackie saw news of the search and sent Tanner pictures of Athena.
“I said, ‘Tanner, I know you’re working out in Paradise. Please look out for this little girl,” Jackie said.
Tanner’s responded something like, “OK, I’ll look out for her,” the grandmother said. It was “kind of a generic answer” and “he didn’t dwell on it,” she said.
The prosecutor asked whether Horner admitted doing anything to Athena at that time, and his grandmother replied that he did not and if he had, she would have called authorities.
Court ended for the day. The judge and attorneys will go over instructions for the jury on Friday, when the jury will not be present and there will not be a livestream. The defense is expected to call its final witnesses on Monday, and the jury should begin deliberations after closing arguments on Tuesday.
3 p.m. Grandmother apologizes to Athena’s parents
Asked about the day of Athena’s murder, Horner’s grandmother, Jackie, said that he had been visibly stressed around that time. He had disagreements with his fiance and financial struggles, and he wasn’t getting much sleep, she said.
She said Tanner told her he made a doctor’s appointment to get back on medication, and she was proud of him for that because she thought he was maturing.
“You could just tell he was stressed because he was so snappy and kind of shaky,” she said.
Asked about how Athena’s murder affected her family, she said, “Horrific. I mean we’re just devastated.”
“We’re so sorry for Athena’s parents, more than you’ll ever know,” Jackie said. “We think about you every day. And I pray for you every day.”
“I feel like there’s nothing I can say to make anything better. And I’m sure there’s not,” she continued. “I just want you to know that I’ve not forgotten you or your daughter.”
1:30 p.m. Horner’s grandmother testifies
Horner’s maternal grandmother, Jackie, is testifying.
She began by talking about her childhood and said that she was sexually abused as a child. Her father was an alcoholic, and substance abuse problems ran in her family, she said. She said some of her siblings suffered from mental illness and two of them died by suicide.
Jackie dropped out of school at 15 when she became pregnant with Tanner’s mother, Melissa. She and Melissa’s father were married for about three years before divorcing. She later dated and married a man who sexually abused Melissa, she said.
“She told me the first time it ever happened, and I didn’t believe her,” Jackie said. “How could I not believe a 4-year-old? That’s all on me.”
Melissa previously testified that she began working as a stripper at age 17 and met Tanner’s father at the strip club. Jackie said that Melissa and Tanner’s father had a toxic relationship and fought all the time.
Jackie took a lot of responsibility for raising Tanner while Melissa worked or was in rehab or jail, she said. The grandmother thought she could do a better job of taking care of Tanner than she had with Melissa now that she was older and had more experience. “I loved him,” she said. “He was my first grandkid.”
The defense attorney is showing family photos as Jackie testifies, including photos of Tanner as a child.
The attorney asked about a time that Tanner found Melissa passed out on the toilet after a heroin overdose. Jackie said she didn’t remember when that happened but she remembered hearing about it.
Tanner came to live with Jackie and her third husband, Bill, full time when he was about 3 years old. Bill served in the Army in Vietnam as a “tunnel rat” checking tunnels for booby traps. She said he was paranoid and had a bad temper.
“He didn’t have much patience, and he was always mad about something,” she said.
Jackie talked about taking Tanner to the doctor because of his unusual behavior, and getting his diagnosis of autism and ADHD. When Tanner was young, she had to plan outings to the park or the movies days in advance, because he would get upset about spontaneous changes to his routine.
She said that Tanner was bullied by other kids and that he was smart but didn’t do well in school at first. He began to improve when he received special education services, she said.
She was proud of him when he became the first person in his family to graduate from high school. “It was a big accomplishment,” Jackie said. “He wanted to make his parents proud.”
Around age 10, Tanner was so excited when his little brother was born that he threw up the meal he got at McDonald’s on the way to the hospital, his grandmother said. Horner was also excited when he became a father in 2021, and he “took good care” of his son, she said.
11:10 a.m. Second psychologist testifies
Dr. Kim Spence, a psychologist who evaluated Horner along with Dr. Imhof, is testifying about their autism diagnosis for Horner.
Spence said they reviewed video from the case but they did not talk to Horner about the facts of the crime because that wasn’t relevant to making a diagnosis of autism.
Spence said Horner has adapted well to being in jail. A prosecutor noted that Horner has been in segregated custody the entire time he’s been in jail and he “didn’t have access to other people to do things to them.”
The trial is on a lunch break until about 1 p.m.
10:30 a.m. Forensic psychologist testifies
Dr. Eric Imhof, a forensic psychologist, testified.
Imhof said that he and his partner interviewed and tested Horner for about nine hours over two days, and they also reviewed records and spoke with family members and other witnesses to help them reach a diagnosis.
They diagnosed Horner with level one autism spectrum disorder, which is a less severe form of autism, and generalized anxiety disorder.
On cross-examination, the prosecution asked Imhof if some part of his evaluation relied on Horner being truthful in answering questions. He said that it did, but he and his partner also looked at other sources to corroborate what Horner told them.
“I’m aware that Mr. Horner has told different stories to different people,” he said.
Imhof said the psychologists asked Horner about his substance abuse and Horner said he used cocaine once or twice a month.
Horner did not mention using cocaine on the day of the murder, Imhof said. Horner told another psychiatrist that he kidnapped and killed Athena because she saw him snorting cocaine in his FedEx truck.
This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 9:47 AM.
