What’s next for Tanner Horner? Athena Strand killer’s death sentence triggers automatic appeals process; what it means
predecessor fedex driver Sentenced to death on Tuesday, May 5, after pleading guilty to murdering seven-year-old child athena strandhe took her from their home in Texas while delivering Christmas gifts. Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided to punish Tanner Horner after hearing days of testimony and evidence, including audio of Strand’s final moments in a delivery van.
Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to murder last month. He killed Strand in 2022, and her body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise. fort worth. She died from blunt force trauma and strangulation.
The death sentence ended the trial, but the process was far from over. Kristi Jack, a partner at Varghese Somerset, has handled numerous death penalty cases, and death sentences trigger an automatic appeals process that can take years, CBS News reported.
Learn more | Tanner Horner’s family: What we know about his mother and ex-girlfriend as he faces death penalty
Texas law requires all death penalty cases to be automatically appealed. That means Horner’s sentence will be reviewed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals before it can proceed. His lawyers had previously asked that the death penalty be scrapped because he suffers from autism and “various mental illnesses.”
What’s next for Tanner Horner?
Horner will now be transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility in Livingston. A judge will set an execution date, but appeals against the death sentence will proceed automatically.
“It’s been three and a half years since she was kidnapped and killed,” Jack said. “If I had to estimate, it’s probably going to be at least twice that long before he’s executed. So, by that point, you’re talking about almost a decade of their lives that they’re going to have spent trying to get over their grief, getting over their loss.”
Learn more | ‘You’re a footnote in her story’: Slain Athena Strand’s uncle rips Tanner Horner in court | WATCH
Jack explained that death penalty appeals in Texas can include several stages, including review by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, post-conviction claims, and possible federal appeals.
The trial is over, but the impact of the case won’t end with the verdict, Jack said.
“True justice would bring her back, but that’s not possible,” Jack said. “I’m sure that’s what her mother was thinking…I’d give it all up just to have her back.”
