A Texas courtroom is now focused on deciding the punishment for Tanner Horner, with jurors hearing testimony about prior allegations as they determine whether he should face the death penalty for the murder of Athena Strand.
According to the New York Post, the proceedings, taking place in Fort Worth, have shifted to the sentencing phase after Horner admitted to killing the 7-year-old in 2022.
During testimony this week, two women described past encounters with Horner when they were teenagers, years before the child’s death.
One woman told jurors she was 16 when she first met Horner, who was older at the time. She said they spent time together at his home, where he allegedly asked her to misrepresent her age.
She described two separate incidents in which she said she was assaulted after spending time with him.
“I froze. I completely froze, shut down, did not know what to do, and just let it happen,” she told the court, adding that she later felt “gross and violated.”
She also reflected on the past, saying that if she had come forward sooner, “things may not have happened to other people,” according to testimony presented in court.
A second woman testified about a separate encounter, also when she was 16. She said she knew Horner through shared social circles and initially bonded over common interests before conversations became increasingly inappropriate.
She told jurors that during an overnight stay at a friend’s home, she woke up to find Horner assaulting her.
“I became conscious and came too to Tanner Horner raping me,” she said.
The woman later publicly accused Horner in 2018, stating online that “he was a rapist and that he had raped me when I was 16.” She said he responded by accusing her of “slandering my name.”
Under questioning, she acknowledged she “went along with it” after initial contact but emphasized she was underage at the time.
The testimony is part of the broader effort by prosecutors to present Horner’s past behavior as the jury considers sentencing.
Horner has already admitted to abducting and killing Athena Strand near her home in Paradise, Texas, while working a delivery route.
Prosecutors also told jurors that he searched online the day after the killing to determine whether delivery truck cameras recorded continuously.
He has denied sexually assaulting the child.
A decision on whether Horner will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole is expected soon.
