La. Supreme Court denies DeSoto child killer's request to review lower court ruling

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Louisiana Supreme Court has denied a request from a convicted child killer to have it consider his desire to have more attorneys appointed to his case.

Brian Horn, 50, of Keachi, has been convicted twice and sentenced to death twice in the 2010 death of Justin Bloxom, 12, of Stonewall. His first conviction and sentence was overturned following the first trial in 2014. He was convicted and sentenced to death a second time during his trial in July 2023.

Horn’s appeal of that verdict and sentence have yet to be heard by the state Supreme Court. He faces a deadline of today to reply to the original appeal brief. Then, the case will be scheduled for oral arguments, which could happen this fall.

The matter before the Supreme Court this week was a separate, stand-alone request where Horn wanted the state’s highest court to review a ruling by DeSoto District Court Judge Amy Burford McCartney. She denied his request for additional attorneys during the post-conviction process. Horn is already represented by appointed attorneys who defend defendants facing the death sentence.

The court’s denial on Thursday of his application for supervisory writ upholds McCartney’s ruling.

An execution date for Horn can’t be set until his appeals process is exhausted.

Horn was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Bloxom after picking him up from a friend’s house. Horn was a taxi cab driver who gained access to Bloxom’s phone number and began portraying himself as a young girl in text messages. After luring Bloxom away from an overnight stay with friends, Horn pretended to drive him to meet the girl. But his cab ran out of gas on U.S. Highway 171 in Stonewall. He killed Bloxom then took his body across a fence line, where DeSoto sheriff’s investigators found him hours later. The murder was quickly traced to Horn, whose brother turned him in to the sheriff’s office.

Horn is also a twice-convicted sex offender.