Killer Called His Mother From Jail and Lied About How Athena Strand Died

He told his mother he hit the girl backing up the van. He had already confessed to strangling her with two hands. The prosecution is done with investigators, forensic experts, and crime scene testimony. Now they flip the lens. The jury hears Tanner Horner himself, uncoached and unguarded, calling his family from the Wise County Jail in the days after his arrest. Joseph Thomas Jr., the jail administrator, authenticates five recorded calls. Then the calls play. The first is from December 3, 2022, the day after his arrest. Horner calls his mother Melissa. What he tells her about how Athena Strand died is not what he told the Texas Ranger the day before. Watch what happens when the second call plays. A 26-minute visitation with his grandmother Jackie Harbison, twelve days after arrest. The defense forces the full call over the prosecution's objection. By the end of it, the jury has heard a version of Horner that no investigator, no expert, and no attorney has shown them. Three more calls are still coming. --- WATCH WITH JUSTICE 0:00 to 4:29 - Pre-jury hearing. The defense objects to the jail calls on custodian of records and hearsay grounds. The judge overrules both and grants a running objection. The defense also confirms Horner has zero disciplinary writeups in jail. That is quiet but it matters. 4:30 to 18:32 - Joseph Thomas Jr. authenticates five jail recordings for the jury. Foundation testimony. He confirms the calls, the dates, and identifies Horner's voice. The defense locks in the limiting instruction: the state cannot tell Thomas who the other voices are. 18:33 to 23:56 - The December 3 call plays. One day after arrest. Horner tells his mother he pulled into a driveway and hit the girl while backing up. She was crying. His first thought was losing his job. His mother asks whether he did anything sexual to the girl. He denies it. She tells him to pray for the family. She tells him not to hurt himself. Every word of it recorded. Every word of it a lie about how Athena actually died. 24:00 to 25:39 - The prosecution tries to play only a selected portion of the second call. The defense invokes the rule of optional completeness. The judge orders the full 26-minute call played. Watch why the defense wanted every second of this. 25:40 to 55:15 - The full December 14 visitation with his grandmother. Horner has been on suicide watch. He is reading a Bible but struggling with the language. He casually calls himself autistic. He wants meditation books for anxiety attacks and Dragon Ball Z manga. He is off his medication and feeling emotions for the first time in weeks. He talks about other inmates looking at him with hatred, his case being national news, and wanting to see his son. The prosecution opened this door to show a liar. The defense made sure the jury heard everything behind it. --- COMPLETE CASE COVERAGE justiceisaprocess.com SUBSCRIBE for daily trial coverage and hit the notification bell so you never miss testimony. JOIN to unlock the Case Notebook powered by NotebookLM, where you can chat with the evidence, ask questions about the testimony, and go deeper than any comment section allows. CASE BACKGROUND REPORT: https://www.justiceisaprocess.com/tx-... Complete case overview including charges, timeline, key players, and legal analysis for the capital murder trial of Tanner Lynn Horner in the death of Athena Strand. PLAYLISTS AND RESOURCES Website: https://www.justiceisaprocess.com/cov... Full Trial Live Broadcasts:    • LIVE BROADCAST: TX v. Tanner Horner   No Breaks Edition:    • NO BREAKS EDITION: TX v. Tanner Horner   Trial Analysis Podcast:    • PODCAST: TX v. Tanner Horner   Key Moments and Testimony:    • KEY MOMENTS: TX v. Tanner Horner   Subscribe for Daily Coverage:    / @justiceisaprocess   FAIR USE AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE This content is produced under Fair Use (17 U.S.C. 107) for news reporting, criticism, and educational purposes. We provide transformative commentary on public court proceedings, advancing public understanding of the judicial process through timestamps, analysis, and educational context. #JusticeIsAProcess #AthenaStrand #TannerHorner