Tanner Horner sentenced to death for Athena Strand murder
Updated
Updated · NBC DFW · May 5
Tanner Horner sentenced to death for Athena Strand murder
16 articles · Updated · NBC DFW · May 5
A Tarrant County jury reached the verdict after about two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday, following 19 days of testimony and closing arguments in the moved Texas capital murder case.
Horner had pleaded guilty nearly a month earlier to kidnapping and killing the seven-year-old in Wise County in November 2022, leaving jurors to choose between death and life without parole.
Jurors heard audio from Horner's delivery van and graphic investigator testimony, while his lawyers cited abuse and mental health issues; the death sentence is automatically reviewed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
As Texas death sentences become rare, what made this case an exception, and does it signal a shift in prosecutorial strategy?
How does our justice system judge a person with a fractured identity when an 'alter ego' was key to the investigation?