DALLAS — Lawyers for Tanner Horner, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old North Texas girl Athena Strand, are asking a Tarrant County court to take the death penalty off the table, saying he has autism.
Horner, a former FedEx driver, is charged with capital murder in Strand’s death, and he currently faces the death penalty.
In November 2022, Horner told police he struck Strand with his delivery van while backing up, according to court documents. He allegedly kidnapped her and strangled her out of fear that she would tell her father about the incident, documents said. Horner then led authorities to where he had left her body in Wise County near Boyd, authorities said.
The case is being tried in Tarrant County, where a judge has set the trial date for April 7, 2026. The trial was originally scheduled for March 17, 2025
On Jan. 13, the defense filed a flurry of motions, including claims that the death penalty should not be a sentencing option due to Horner’s Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis. His lawyers also sought to prevent evidence taken from his cell phone from being used in court.
Horner’s lawyers argued that Horner’s Autism Spectrum Disorder “reduces his moral blameworthiness, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully sentenced to death.”
In the filing, his lawyers invoke Horner’s constitutional rights to due process, a fair trial and his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
People with Autism Spectrum Disorder have impaired communication, reasoning, social skill and impulse control, according to the filing. Horner’s lawyers argue that these attributes place him under the category of people with intellectual disabilities, which the Supreme Court ruled are “less culpable than the average criminal,” according to the filing.
Horner’s lawyers also argued that data obtained from Horner’s phone should not be admissible at trial, according to another filing.
The defense argues that police already had possession of Horner’s phone when they sought a warrant to search it and incorrectly stated the date the search was executed, according to the filing.
The prosecution has not yet filed any responses to the defense’s claims.