Insets, left to right: Jason Horner (Owatonna police) and Sabrina Schnoor (GoFundMe). Background: Overpass in Minnesota, where Horner murdered Schnoor (KMSP).
A 41-year-old Minnesota man is headed to prison for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend through the mouth with a shotgun before leaving her body under an overpass.
Jason Lee Horner was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the death of 25-year-old Sabrina Lee Schnoor in Owatonna, which is some 60 miles south of Minneapolis. A probable cause arrest affidavit stated cops responded around 10 p.m. on May 30, 2023, to the Interstate 35 overpass near some train tracks. They found Schnoor dead from a gunshot wound.
"Her jaw was missing, bone fragments and teeth were located in the rocks near her body, and blood spatter was observed on and around her head," the affidavit said.
Horner and Schnoor had dated, but they broke up because she said he was abusive. Surveillance video showed the two together shortly after 9:30 p.m. on May 29, 2023, at a convenience store. After they left the store, the pair walked down the train tracks toward the overpass. Horner was seen walking back toward the store alone about an hour later.
"Sabrina Schnoor spent her last moments with a gun held against her mouth, or worse, inside her mouth," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "Her body was left like trash underneath a dirty overpass while defendant fled the scene."
Schnoor had shared her location with friends using the Life360 app before meeting up with Horner, according to ABC affiliate KSTP. Her friends used the app to find her body the next day after not hearing from her.
Cops obtained an arrest warrant for Horner, who spent about five days on the run before he was arrested and taken to jail, where he's been ever since. A jury last month convicted Horner of second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.
"Jason Horner's crimes are shocking and appalling, and my office has been working tirelessly to ensure justice is served here," said Minnesota Attorney General Ellison whose office prosecuted the case. "We secured Horner's conviction alongside our partners in law enforcement, and I am glad he has now been sentenced and will serve time for the pain and suffering he caused. I continue to keep Sabrina's family and friends in my prayers."
Schnoor's family members made emotional statements during Monday's sentencing hearing.
"May you rot in jail," Robert Wood, Schnoor's great uncle, testified, according to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate KAAL. "And I hope you never get out. Because you don't deserve to. And I hope you rot in hell afterwards."
Her grandmother, Marni Schnoor, called her granddaughter "a joy."
"She loved everybody. And she seemed to love everything," she reportedly said.