Just Kill Him

I’m following the sentencing phase for a murder that comes down to either a life sentence or the death penalty. Tanner Horner, a Fed Ex truck driver, has already confessed to killing Athena Strand, a seven year child he snatched from her front yard after delivering a package.

Horner didn’t just kidnap this child; he tortured her for an hour before killing her and throwing her naked body into a creek. For a while, he didn’t realize there is a surveillance device in his truck. Then he covers the camera, unaware that it will still record sound. A jury had to listen to this for an hour. I can guarantee they will never be the same.

With the confession established, his defense can only try to mitigate his crime by focusing on his miserable childhood and alleged brain defects. Their witnesses so far have been his school teachers, a psychologist, and a neuroscience expert. We have seen what a brain looks like and how it functions. Horner’s brain apparently displays some abnormalities that would effect how he perceives the world. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at nine years old. He has an unusually high lead content in his bones. He had a terrible home environment. His mom was a drug addicted prostitute. His absent father is in jail, where his own sister says he belongs.

Does anyone feel sorry for him yet? I certainly would if he hadn’t tortured and killed a child before calmly folding up her little clothes and tucking them into his backpack.

My very strong feeling is, just kill him. Please. It’s not that I’m a fan of the death penalty. It’s sickening, barbaric, and unfairly handed out to people of color.

But come on! If ever a crime deserved a death sentence, this is it. As one Court TV lawyer asked, Does it have to be Satan himself  carrying a pitchfork before the death penalty is justified? Horner was 31 at the time of the murder, competent enough to drive a truck and read maps. He’s also good at folding clothes. He was competent enough to make a phone-call while driving home, assuring someone, “Love you.”

Horner is competent enough to have a fiance and a young son. But who knows how they would have ended up. And yet his social deficiencies due to his autism diagnosis have been mentioned over and over. If you have friends or family members with autism, or if you are on the spectrum yourself, you know how irrelevant this is to the crime at hand. People on the spectrum may think differently and react to stimulus differently, but they aren’t insane and they don’t go around kidnapping little kids.

Some of of us wear glasses, or are uncoordinated, or can’t make friends. Some of us are dumb as rocks. We don’t get to go around torturing and murdering children because our mommies were drug addicts who neglected us. I don’t think any factors under discussion in court are mitigating circumstances. If someone had been holding a gun to his head, that would be mitigating. If he were a drooling idiot in a room talking to himself, that might be mitigating too.

Horner is a 250 lb man who has a SoundCloud account and knows right from wrong, as evidenced by his feigned surprise when told of the crime by Texas rangers the next day. His semen was found on Athena’s clothes and his DNA under her fingernails.

Just kill him! What don’t you get, if you’re arguing for lenience? I’d kill him myself, if asked. I’d like to kill him. If you wouldn’t, then awww, what a good little social justice warrior you are! Just don’t ever let your kids outside and don’t get your packages delivered by Fed Ex.