Live updates: Closing arguments, jury deliberations in Tanner Horner trial day 17
Closings arguments will begin about 9 a.m. Tuesday, and then the jury will begin to deliberate in the capital murder trial of Tanner Horner, the former FedEx driver who has pleaded guilty to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand.
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 whether he will be sentenced to the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
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.
Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, told the jury that Horner sexually assaulted Athena before killing her and that his DNA was found on her body.
In interviews with investigators, Horner blamed an alter ego called “Zero” for the girl’s death.
Horner’s lawyers have to convince the jury that the 34-year-old man should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Defense witnesses have focused on Horner’s childhood and mental conditions, including discussion of autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, bullying, sexual abuse, and lead exposure after he ate coins as a toddler.
The state presented rebuttal witnesses Monday in response to the defense case, including a surprise witness who alleges Horner sexually assaulted him, and a psychiatric expert.
The trial is being held at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. Watch live video of the trial here with analysis from WFAA-TV, and follow Star-Telegram.com for updates.
