Horner's Punishment Phase: Jury Weighs Mercy

0:00Tanner Horner, the former delivery driver who pleaded guilty to Capitol murder and kidnapping seven-year-old Athena Strand back in November 20. 22 is deep into the punishment phase of his trial in Taren County. The state just rested its case after showing jurors' graphic evidence of Athena's final moments, and now the jury's got to pick between death or life. Without parole, earlier this week, the defense brought in witnesses to paint a picture of Horner's troubled past. His mother broke down on the stand, talking about her own heavy drug use during pregnancy, including heroin and meth, and how Horner got diagnosed. With Asperger's syndrome as a kid after struggling to connect with others, meanwhile, his great aunt described a chaotic childhood with a dad battling addiction and jail time, and a psychologist broke down developmental. Disorders for the jury. This all aims to show why Horner might deserve mercy instead of the needle. To crime hit hard, Athena vanished from her wise county home during a package drop-off

1:02meant for her as a Christmas gift. Horner claimed he accidentally hit her with his van, panicked, then killed her, sparking a massive search in an amber alert that ended with her body, found nearby. jurors head back to court Thursday to keep deliberating, weighing this night-american's Horner story as Texas law from Athena's case now lets. Alerts go out faster for missing kids, heavy stuff, but justice rolls on. That wraps Dallas News Today, brought to you with AI. I'm Corey with The Story.