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Defense attorneys for Tanner Horner, the former FedEx contract delivery driver sentenced to death for the 2022 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, are asking a judge to grant him a new trial.
The motion argues that extensive media coverage surrounding the case prevented Horner from receiving a fair trial. Defense attorneys said some potential witnesses declined to testify because of the publicity.
Horner's trial was moved from Wise County to Tarrant County because of widespread attention the case received, including on social media.
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Prosecutors with the Wise County District Attorney's Office have asked the court to deny the request, arguing there is no legal rule that bars media coverage of criminal proceedings. A judge is expected to rule on the motion in the coming days.
Separately, Horner's attorneys have filed an appeal with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Under Texas law, all death penalty cases automatically receive review by the state's highest criminal court.
What did Tanner Horner do? What happened to Athena Strand?
A Tarrant County jury took less than three hours in May to sentence Horner to death after he pleaded guilty to capital murder.
Jurors unanimously found Horner would pose a continuing threat to society and determined there were no mitigating circumstances that warranted a sentence of life without parole instead of the death penalty.
During the trial, prosecutor James Stainton said Horner delivered a package of Barbie dolls to Athena's home in Paradise, a town of fewer than 500 residents about 60 miles northwest of Dallas, on Nov. 30, 2022. Stainton told jurors that Horner then kidnapped Athena and assaulted her for more than an hour before using a pair of muddy shoes to "beat the life out of her," holding up the shoes as evidence in court.
"And I think that is key to this entire case. If the facts were not bad enough, if the sexual assault wasn't bad enough, the level of violence that one person can inflict on a child, including stomping them with a pair of shoes," he said.
Texas Ranger Job Espinoza testified that cameras captured Horner stuffing Athena's clothes into a backpack, which was later found at his home, and cleaning the FedEx van after the attack.
Horner told someone over the phone that he cleaned the truck because he threw up in it, according to video footage. Horner also returned to the scene, where a woman told him the area was blocked off because of the kidnapping.
"Are you serious?" he said in video shown to the jury.
After he was caught, Horner spun a "web of lies" and told multiple different stories about what happened to Athena and where her body was during the police investigation, Stainton said.
At one point, Horner told investigators that he took Athena after he accidentally hit her with his vehicle, so that she wouldn't report him. He said she wasn't seriously injured, but he panicked and strangled her after she said she would tell her father he hit her. He also concocted an alter ego named "Zero," who he said was responsible for the killing.
Surveillance video showed Horner driving his FedEx delivery truck to Athena's home before returning minutes later with the 7-year-old. The footage captured Horner picking her up and placing her inside the vehicle. After the abduction, Horner covered the truck's internal camera, leaving investigators with audio recordings only for the remainder of the incident.
Athena's first questions to Horner were "what are you doing?" and "are you a kidnapper?” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, NBC DFW and Fox 4. At one point, he told the girl, "you’re really pretty. You know that?”
He could be heard on the recording telling the girl, who had begun to cry, to remove her shirt and threatening to hurt her if she screamed. Athena repeatedly told Horner no and asked to go home to her mother. Later, "Jingle Bell Rock" played from the radio as Horner told the screaming Athena to "shut up" or he would hurt her more, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Athena was found naked in the Trinity River near an area called Bobo's Crossing, about 12 to 13 miles away from her home, Stainton and former Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin, a witness in the trial, said. Medical examiner Jennifer Dwyer testified that she died of blunt force injuries with smothering and strangulation.
During closing arguments, defense attorneys urged jurors to spare Horner's life, citing his difficult upbringing, stress at home and autism diagnosis. Prosecutors argued Horner showed Athena no mercy and asked jurors to impose the death penalty.
Following the sentencing, Athena's uncle, Elijah Strand, addressed Horner directly: "I want you to know that you are nothing. You are a footnote in Athena's story. Her name will forever be celebrated and everyone will forget you."
Brandi D. Addison covers weather across the nation as the Weather Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network and contributes to Texas Connect coverage across the state. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas inmate sentenced to death seeks new trial in Athena Strand case
