{"id":378708,"date":"2026-07-19T13:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T13:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378708\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T13:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T13:58:29","slug":"defense-requests-new-trial-after-tanner-horner-death-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378708\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense requests new trial after Tanner Horner death sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense attorneys have requested a new trial for Tanner Horner, the former FedEx driver who was sentenced to death in May<\/a> for the capital murder of 7-year-old Wise County girl Athena Strand.<\/p>\n

The motion was filed in Tarrant County on June 4, according to court records. Attorney Thea Posel argues in the document that the widespread media coverage surrounding the case intimidated some key witnesses who later refused to testify and made it impossible for the 34-year-old defendant to get a fair trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe precautions of the trial court were insufficient to guard against the prevailing hostility and intense scrutiny surrounding the trial and defense presentation,\u201d the motion states.<\/p>\n

Wise County District Attorney James Stainton and state prosecutor Jeffrey Shell filed a 12-page response on June 23 and requested that the motion be denied. The prosecutors pointed out that there is no rule barring media coverage of court cases and it was not the trial court\u2019s duty to \u201cto inquire into the effects of the intensive media coverage and public attention on the jury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge George Gallagher is expected to rule on the request for a new trial in the next few days, according to a court spokesperson.<\/p>\n

\"Defendant Defendant Tanner Horner is removed from the courtroom after being sentenced to the death penalty on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand. The jury’s verdict was unanimous on both questions in the punishment trial and found that Horner is a future danger to society and that there were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to justify a sentence of life in prison without parole. Amanda McCoy FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n

Derek Adame, a criminal defense attorney<\/a> in Denton County and a certified death penalty lawyer who is not involved in the Horner case, said filing a motion for a new trial is a common strategy, especially in death penalty cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you\u2019re going to make a motion for new trial, absolutely, because it is a tool in the tool bag,\u201d Adame told the Star-Telegram during a phone interview Wednesday. \u201cAnd if it works, if you\u2019re granted a new trial, well, that\u2019s better than an appeal because you get to start the whole thing over.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Adame, attorneys will ask for a new trial even when they don\u2019t have much ground to stand on and don\u2019t expect the request to be granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience, it\u2019s pretty rare that a motion for new trial gets granted,\u201d he said. \u201cThe bar is pretty high. You basically have to show, you have to prove that there now exists evidence, or evidence that you did not have before during the trial. So something new has come to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Horner\u2019s case, the argument of too much media coverage by itself likely wouldn\u2019t be sufficient grounds for a new trial, Adame said, because every major case gets a lot of media attention. If the defense can persuade the judge that some witnesses didn\u2019t testify because they felt threatened and had evidence that could have changed the outcome of the trial, the odds of success are more likely, he said.<\/p>\n

According to Adame, building a case for the future is another reason attorneys ask for a new trial. Even if the motion isn\u2019t successful, it still gets the information into the court record and gives the defense something to build on during the appeals process.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to build a good enough record so that maybe some appellate court years from now says, \u2018Hey, you know what? You guys were right\u2019 and … rules in your favor,\u201d Adame said. \u201cSo that\u2019s what you want to do. You want to leave as many doors open as you possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timeline of the killing and trial<\/p>\n

In September 2024, a Wise County Judge approved Horner\u2019s change of venue motion<\/a> and ordered his trial moved to Tarrant County. The defendant\u2019s attorneys cited the publicity surrounding the case and the concern Horner wouldn\u2019t receive a fair trial in the county where the crime occurred.<\/p>\n

The capital murder trial ran from April 7 through May 5 in Tarrant County\u2019s 297th District Court. On the first day, Horner pleaded guilty<\/a> to kidnapping and killing Athena after delivering a package to her family\u2019s home near Paradise on Nov. 30, 2022. The former FedEx driver was arrested on Dec. 2, 2022, after investigators traced the package and saw a video clip of him placing Athena in the truck.<\/p>\n

Following Horner\u2019s guilty plea, the jury heard evidence from both sides to help them decide on a punishment verdict.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors introduced video and audio evidence<\/a> showing that Horner sexually assaulted the child before brutally murdering her and dumping her body in the water along the Trinity River.<\/p>\n

Stainton has said the Wise County District Attorney\u2019s Office decided to seek the death penalty immediately after Athena\u2019s death and never considered dropping it as a punishment option.<\/p>\n

During the course of the trial, Horner\u2019s attorneys brought in expert witnesses<\/a> to talk about the defendant\u2019s autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, lead exposure and troubled home life. They tried to convince the jury that he should receive life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

Before the jury filed in for closing arguments on May 5, defense attorney Susan Anderson made another motion<\/a> to take the death penalty off the table as a sentencing option due to the \u201cpervasive media attention\u201d the case has received.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impossible for Tanner to get a fair trial,\u201d she argued.<\/p>\n

Gallagher denied the motion and said he was satisfied the jury had followed his instructions not to read or watch coverage of the trial.<\/p>\n

After less than three hours of deliberation, the jury handed down the death penalty. They voted unanimously that Horner is a future danger to society and that there were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to justify a life sentence.<\/p>\n

All death penalty sentences in Texas are automatically appealed, and Horner\u2019s attorneys filed notice of his appeal in May, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Harriet Ramos<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Harriet Ramos covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defense attorneys have requested a new trial for Tanner Horner, the former FedEx driver who was sentenced to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-378708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}