Editors note: The below story features descriptions of sexual abuse and the assault of a child.

Tanner Horner, the former FedEx driver who murdered 7-year-old Athena Strand, was sentenced to death Tuesday.

Jurors returned a swift verdict after just hours of deliberation. They were formally tasked with answering up to two questions: Does Horner pose a continuing threat to society, and, if so, should he be given the death penalty or life in prison?

Jurors said yes to the first question, and elected the death penalty in the second.

The trial was solely focused on whether Horner would get the death penalty after he pleaded guilty to Strand’s murder on the first day of arguments.

Wise county prosecutor James Stainton kept a calm attitude in his closing argument as he told jurors Texas keeps the death penalty specifically for people like Horner.

“Tanner Horner is proof why parents hug their children a little tighter. He’s proof of why children are nervous to go play outside,” Stainton said. “He’s proof of why there is evil in society, and we can never turn our back.”

Susan Anderson, a defense attorney for Horner, argued to jurors his autism reduces his moral responsibility for the crime. She also tried to use his diagnosis to paint a sympathetic picture of Horner.

“They know that they just don’t quite fit in. They start to see themselves as an outcast,” Anderson told jurors. “They start hanging out with other people that they identify with — other outcasts — and that becomes that self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Jurors were still learning new details about Horner just a day before they had to deliberate on a verdict.

Prosecutors called a surprise witness Monday: Horner’s cousin, who testified Horner sexually assaulted him when he was 10 years old. The prosecution brought forward the cousin, who was only identified as Billy, as rebuttal testimony after the defense rested their case.

Horner forced Billy to give him oral sex and tried to forcefully penetrate the boy by a lake near Horner’s grandmother’s house, the witness said. Billy added that he didn’t fight back because he was scared.

“He was bigger than me, he’s beaten me up before,” Billy testified. “I went along with it.”

The defense asked him on cross examination why he decided to come forward.

“The fact that he killed a kid and the truth needs to be told,” Billy said.

He also testified that Horner made comments in the past wondering what it would be like to kill someone.

Strand’s death

Horner was delivering Barbie dolls to the Strand’s Wise County home as a FedEx driver in November 2022 when he kidnapped her. A still image from a camera in the truck shows Strand kneeling next to Horner in the truck while he’s driving.

Investigators say Horner then killed her by beating her on the head and strangling her to death before dumping her body in a creek. The Dallas County medical examiner said she had blunt force injuries on her head and was strangled. The prosecution also said there was a shoe print on Athena’s face that matched Horner’s shoe.

Horner was arrested two days later and admitted to the killing, but offered contradictory information to investigators about how and why he killed Strand.

Texas Ranger Job Espinoza was eventually able to get accurate information out of Horner by addressing him as “Zero,” which is Horner’s purported alter-ego.

“I played his game, and I spoke to Zero,” Espinoza testified. “Ultimately, it’s about locating Athena and getting the truth, and whatever he wants to be called, I’m willing to do that as long as it means actually getting to the truth.”

Horner said when Zero takes over it feels like he’s in the back seat of a car being driven by someone else. Other times, he said, it feels like he’s in the trunk of the car.

During the interview, Horner often expressed frustration over the direction of his life and lamented he would miss out on his own child’s life. But overall Espinoza described Horner as relaxed and calm during the interview.

Jurors watched video of Horner leading investigators to a creek — the actual location of Athena’s body.

FBI Agent Dave Rogers described to jurors what Strand’s body looked like after she was pulled out of the water.

“I remember her being really cold to the touch, firm, and with the lights and everything on the skin, her skin appeared to be glistening kind of angel-like,” Rogers said.

Prosecutors rested their case last month after playing audio and video from inside Horner’s delivery truck, showing the moments Strand was kidnapped and killed.

Prosecutors also had Timothy Fitzpatrick, director of classification at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, testify about the difference in living conditions between inmates serving a life sentence in general population and those on death row.

The prosecution’s strategy appeared to contrast the experience Horner would have in general population against that of death row.

In general population, Fitzpatrick said Horner would be mixed in with other inmates convicted of lesser crimes, and people in visitation areas wouldn’t be notified of his charges. But on death row, Horner would be restrained, searched and escorted before leaving his cell for any reason.

“Death row by nature is far more structured,” Fitzpatrick said. “They remain at that facility for the entirety of their incarceration up until that sentence is carried out.”

The final days of the trial came after after more than a week of the defense making its case, in which attorneys brought forward Horner’s family, psychiatrists and other experts to testify about his troubled upbringing and mental health issues.

But those following the trial closely say the defense had an uphill battle.

“I do think that they’ve done a good job of working with what they had,” John Helms, a Dallas criminal defense attorney, told KERA News. “But the problem is that the crime itself was just so horrific.”