TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (TCN) — Defense attorneys representing Tanner Horner, recently sentenced to death for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand in 2022, have filed a motion requesting a new trial.
On Nov. 30, 2022, 34-year-old Tanner Horner kidnapped Strand from outside her father and stepmother’s home in Paradise, Texas. He was working as a FedEx driver at the time and had delivered a package of Barbie dolls to her house that were meant to be a Christmas gift. The next day, Strand’s remains were found in a river. On April 7, Horner pleaded guilty to Strand’s murder.
He was sentenced to death on May 5 following a 19-day trial, during which the jury heard audio recorded inside the truck. According to Wise County District Attorney James Stainton, “You are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child. And when I say it’s horrible, I mean it.”
Jurors deliberated for about three hours on whether Horner should die by lethal injection or spend his life behind bars. The Texas Court of Appeals confirmed that the appeal automatically allowed under Texas state law was filed the next day; death sentences are automatically appealed in Texas.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that on June 4, Horner’s defense filed a motion requesting a new trial in which they claim that extensive media coverage compromised his right to a fair trial. According to the motion, the media attention intimidated key witnesses into refusing to testify.
Stainton as well as another prosecutor responded on June 23, per the Star-Telegram, in which they requested that Horner’s defense’s motion be denied; they said there are no rules banning media coverage.
KXAS reports that shortly before Horner’s defense filed the motion, Judge George Gallagher signed a protective order sealing all exhibits; he said that the information the exhibits contain could compromise Horner’s right to a fair trial and that anyone who has seen or accessed the exhibits is banned from talking about their contents.
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