A photo of Athena Strand, shared in a public filing of a lawsuit on behalf of her parents in February 2023.
The capital murder trial for the man accused of killing 7-year-old Athena Strand is scheduled to begin next spring.
Tanner Horner is facing a capital murder charge in the girl's death.
Horner pleaded not guilty during a capital murder arraignment hearing in March 2023, but that was after police said he'd confessed that he killed the girl with his bare hands. According to an arrest document, Horner told police he accidentally hit the girl with his delivery vehicle while in her driveway on Nov. 30, 2022, and that he got scared after she said she was going to tell her father about the collision.
Strand disappeared and was reported missing by her parents. Her body was found two days later in the Trinity River, not far from the family's home in Wise County.
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According to the Tarrant County District Clerk, pre-trial hearings will begin Jan. 21, 2025, and jury selection will begin Feb. 3. The trial is expected to begin March 17.
Though the homicide allegedly took place in Wise County, the case is being heard in Tarrant County because the courts there are better prepared to "adequately facilitate a trial of this case." Wise County will reimburse Tarrant County for all court costs.
Prosecutors previously said they plan to seek the death penalty in the capital murder case. A capital murder conviction in Texas comes with an automatic punishment of either life in prison without parole or death.
