Tanner Horner has learned his fate after he pleaded guilty to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand in 2022.
Just hours after the closing arguments concluded on Tuesday, May 5, a jury in Fort Worth, Texas, deliberated and concluded that Horner, 34, will be sentenced to death.
The sentencing came one month after Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in the death Strand on April 7.
During the closing arguments, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told the jurors that Horner was an example of why Texas still has the death penalty, according to a live stream WFAA aired via YouTube.
Stainton added that Horner “is proof why there is evil in society and we can never turn our back.”
Meanwhile, defense attorney Susan Anderson told jurors that they had a difficult decision to make regarding Horner’s fate.
“You hold a man’s life in your hands and your decision will define who you are,” she said, per the outlet. “Are you going to be merciful? Or are you going to be vengeful? I want you to vote for life. Sentence Tanner to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
However, Stainton rebutted Anderson’s argument. “Was Tanner merciful? Was Tanner vengeful? Did he show remorse? No, and I think that’s important,” he told the courtroom.
Stainton also argued that Horner “should never have access to hurt anyone ever again.”
On November 30, 2022, Strand was in her family’s Wise County driveway when Horner was delivering a package to the home while he worked at FedEx.
Prosecutors said during the trial that he abducted Strand and killed her inside of his truck. Attorneys also showed the jurors video and played audio from inside the vehicle, which was filmed on the truck’s security camera during the abduction and Strand’s murder.
After Strand’s body was found in the Trinity River on December 2, 2022, a medical examiner confirmed that she died from blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation.
Horner initially pleaded not guilty to aggravated kidnapping and capital murder in 2023. While he changed his plea in April, the trial continued and the jury was tasked to determine his sentence.
“The only truthful thing that Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her,” Stainton said during his opening statement during the trial in April, according to the Washington Post. “The pattern and web of lies that he put together, it’s going to be hard for ya’ll to keep up with. It is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie.”
