Share and Follow
Insets, left to right: Jason Horner (Owatonna police) and Sabrina Schnoor (GoFundMe). Background: Overpass in Minnesota, where Horner murdered Schnoor (KMSP).
A Minnesota man, aged 41, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and abandoning her body beneath an overpass. The tragic incident involved Jason Lee Horner and 25-year-old Sabrina Lee Schnoor in Owatonna, located approximately 60 miles south of Minneapolis.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police were called to the scene around 10 p.m. on May 30, 2023, at the Interstate 35 overpass near some train tracks. There, they discovered Schnoor’s lifeless body, the victim of a gunshot wound.
The affidavit detailed the gruesome scene, describing how Schnoor’s jaw was missing, with bone fragments and teeth scattered among the rocks nearby, while blood spatter was observed around her head.
Horner and Schnoor had previously been in a relationship, which ended after Schnoor accused Horner of being abusive. Surveillance footage captured the couple together at a convenience store shortly after 9:30 p.m. on May 29, 2023. Following their departure from the store, they were seen walking along the train tracks toward the overpass. Horner was later recorded returning to the store alone about an hour afterward.
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors highlighted the harrowing final moments of Schnoor’s life, stating, “Sabrina Schnoor spent her last moments with a gun held against her mouth, or worse, inside her mouth.” They further condemned Horner’s actions, noting that he fled the scene, leaving her body “like trash underneath a dirty overpass.”
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.