A Tarrant County judge has denied Tanner Horner’s motion for a new trial filed earlier this summer.
Horner was given the death sentence in May for the 2022 murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand. On June 4, Horner’s appellate attorney Thea Posel filed a motion for a new trial as part of the appeal process in the case.
Since Judge George Gallagher did not specifically rule on the motion, it was overruled as a matter of law, according to the Wise County District Attorney’s office.
Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder at the beginning of his trial in April and was later given the death penalty by a Tarrant County jury May 5.
According to the motion filed June 4 in 297th District Court in Tarrant County, Horner argued he was entitled to a new trial due to issues created by media coverage of the trial, which was described in the court filing as “pervasive and inflammatory.”
The motion said that several defense witnesses who had cooperated up until the trial ultimately decided not to testify due to fear of their reputation and safety.
“Three witnesses specifically indicated that the media coverage, content, or attention therefrom influenced their desire not to testify, and each were afraid of being associated with the case and the potential personal consequences,” the motion stated.
Horner’s brother, who had agreed to be a witness for the defense, also later indicated he no longer was willing to testify, according to the court document. It said that he was “freaked out” and “concerned about his upcoming parole.”
Posel argued in the motion that these witnesses would have provided crucial evidence the defense needed to argue for a life sentence rather than the death penalty.
The motion also argued that the trial court did not take sufficient steps to ensure trial coverage did not influence the jurors’ deliberations in the case. It also took issue with the trial court’s decision to allow video cameras in the courtroom.
“The media environment and intense scrutiny surrounding the proceedings in this case and the prevailing hostile community sentiment fueled by the trial court’s decision to allow cameras to livestream the entirety of the proceedings materially disadvantaged the defense,” the motion argued.
The case was moved to Tarrant County in 2024 after Horner’s defense argued he could not get a fair trial in Wise County due to “inflammatory pre-trial publicity.”
According to evidence presented at trial by the Wise County District Attorney’s Office, Horner abducted Strand from her Cottondale home Nov. 30, 2022, and placed her in the back of his delivery van. He then physically and sexually assaulted the child before killing her, prosecutors argued. Her body was found two days later in the Trinity River near Boyd.