TX - Athena Strand, 8, Abducted & Murdered By FedEx Contract Driver, Tanner Horner, Paradise, 2022 #2

[Niner]

Still shows same as it did before this latest flurry

Any changes yet with a new hearing date? TIA!

 

[acutename]

have not been following this... did the accused have any prior criminal record? I am thinking of Vanessa Marcotte (adult killed by delivery driver) and the girl killed waking home one one day Report: Carlie Fought For Her Life (not a delivery driver, but a snatching).

When you read a few of these stories, it seems amazing anyone is alive.

 

[roche.analisa]

Any changes yet with a new hearing date? TIA!

Nothing

 

[Niner]

Nothing

Thanks for checking!

I guess I will move him to jury selection on 1/29/26 with final section on 4/1/26 per my notes.

 

[mickey2942]

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article313565782.html

The day is coming closer.

 

[Niner]

Athena Strand Murder: Defense claims suspect has autism, shouldn’t face death penalty

Defense lawyers for Tanner Horner have asked for the death penalty to be taken off the table because they say he has autism. Horner is accused of kidnapping and strangling 7-year-old Athena Strand in Wise County in 2022.

www.fox4news.com

January 14, 2026

The Brief​

• • Tanner Horner's defense attorneys filed a motion to remove the death penalty option in his case, arguing his autism makes capital punishment unconstitutional.
  • The defense claims ASD impairments are comparable to intellectual disabilities, which are legally protected from execution.
  • A judge has not yet ruled on this motion and others, which include accusations of prosecutorial misconduct and efforts to limit trial filming.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Defense lawyers on the Athena Strand murder have asked for the death penalty to be taken off the table because the suspect has autism.
[.....]
The motion states that the court has "categorically prohibited the imposition of the death penalty where a particular characteristic of the defendant renders him less culpable, negates the retributive and deterrent aims of capital punishment, or creates a risk of an erroneous death sentence."
[.....]
Dig deeper:
Other motions filed on Wednesday accuse the prosecution of being constitutionally vague in its charges and accuse the Wise County District Attorney of prosecutorial misconduct.
There’s also one that aims to keep video of both jurors and witnesses during the trial off limits.

"It’s kind of a First Amendment issue between the public right to know, freedom of the press, particular witnesses, and privacy concerns to the extent that they have them," Wilson explained.

At this point, the judge hasn’t ruled on any of the motions.


I do not know IF they had a meeting on Wednesday or the defense just filed the motions.

@roche.analisa - anything in the court site? Hearing or just motions filed? Or another hearing before jury selection on 1/29?