🔴LIVE: Tanner Horner capital murder trial | FOX 4 News

Jurors will return to a Tarrant County courtroom Thursday as they continue to weigh a death sentence for Tanner Horner.

Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and kidnapping in the 2022 death of 7-year-old Athena Strand. He admitted to abducting the girl while delivering a package to her Wise County home on Nov. 30, 2022. The jury must now decide between the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Day 9 Recap: Horner's mother testifies

The morning began with testimony from John Edens, a psychologist and professor at Texas A&M University. Edens testified regarding developmental and personality disorders, detailing the clinical distinctions between the two for the jury.

Horner’s mother also took the stand, though her face was not shown on the court’s camera feed. She provided a candid look at her son’s upbringing, admitting to a history of substance abuse involving heroin, methamphetamine, and alcohol.

She testified that she was using "anything I could get my hands on" before realizing she was eight or nine weeks pregnant with Horner, at which point she said she attempted to stop.

The testimony turned emotional when the defense asked about the murder of the 7-year-old. "I’m so mad at him. I want to just tear his a-- up," she said through tears. "She was just a baby."

Following a midday recess, his mother testified that Horner struggled to interact with other children as a youth. She told the court that after rigorous testing at a specialized center, Horner was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

The defense also called Dottie, Horner’s great-aunt, who described Horner’s "rambunctious" childhood. She testified that Horner and his father lived with her mother intermittently and noted that Horner's father struggled with drug addiction and served time in jail.

BACKSTORY: Horner was charged with capital murder for the death of 7-year-old Athena Strand outside her family’s Wise County home on Nov. 30, 2022.

A contract delivery driver working for FedEx at the time, Horner was delivering what was meant to be a Christmas present for the young girl.

Horner told investigators he accidentally hit Athena with his van while delivering a package to her home. She reportedly survived, but Horner told authorities he panicked and kidnapped her, later strangling her to death.

Athena was reported missing, and eventually an Amber Alert was issued, leading to 72 hours of searching. She was found dead in Boyd, Texas, not far from her family's home.

After Athena Strand's case, Texas Legislators passed a new bill that created a version of an Amber Alert known as the ‘Athena Alert.’

The new law allows authorities to issue an Amber Alert for a missing child that doesn’t have to meet all of the initial criteria.

Under the Athena Alert law, an Amber Alert can still go out even though authorities haven’t confirmed a missing child was kidnapped.

The alert would be able to be sent out to a 100-mile area around the disappearance and adjacent counties.

DPS emphasizes that this is not a new type of alert. All alert messages will still be referenced as an Amber Alert.

FOX 4 News is a FOX-owned station serving Dallas-Fort Worth and all of North Texas.