A Tarrant County judge set Tanner Horner’s trial date for April 7, 2026.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A heartbroken North Texas family is forced to wait another year for a chance at justice.
The Tarrant County trial for Tanner Horner, the man accused of killing Athena Strand, was originally scheduled for March 17, 2025, with prosecutors saying they were ready to proceed. But Horner’s new defense attorneys—who took over in the summer of 2023—argued they needed more time.
They requested that the trial be pushed to October 2026, but Judge George Gallagher denied the request on Tuesday, saying they have enough time to prepare. Instead, he set the trial date for April 7, 2026.
Horner is accused of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Athena Strand. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.
On Nov. 30, 2022, Horner was working as a FedEx contract driver when he delivered a package to Athena’s home. Inside were Barbies, a Christmas gift for the little girl.
Two days later, police recovered her body from a creek near Boyd and arrested Horner. Investigators said he confessed to accidentally backing over Athena with his truck. According to police reports, he said he panicked, put her in his vehicle, and later strangled her to keep her from telling her father what had happened.
He later dumped Athena’s body into a waterway and eventually led investigators back to the area whenever police connected him to the package, per court records. Her family attended Tuesday’s hearing but did not speak afterward.
In court, the judge also approved a request from prosecutors to transfer DNA evidence from a lab in Houston—where there’s a backlog—to Tarrant County to speed up testing.
Wise County District Attorney James Stainton, who will personally prosecute this case, made the request.
The defense objected, arguing that a death penalty case should not be rushed because justice cannot be rushed. The judge ultimately ruled in favor of prosecutors, allowing the evidence transfer to move forward.
