Share and Follow
In a Texas courtroom on Tuesday, a poignant image of 7-year-old Athena Strand was displayed as the FedEx driver responsible for her death confessed to charges of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping.
Just before his trial was set to commence, Tanner Horner unexpectedly admitted guilt in front of a Fort Worth jury, as reported by The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Now, jurors face the somber duty of determining the 34-year-old’s punishment, delving into the harrowing details of this distressing 2022 incident.
In November 2022, Horner was delivering a package of Barbie dolls intended as a holiday gift for Athena when he abducted her. Prosecutors claim he then strangled the child and disposed of her unclothed body in the Trinity River, near her residence in Wise County.
Initially, Horner told authorities that he had accidentally struck Athena with his truck and then panicked, resulting in her abduction. However, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton, in his opening remarks, dismissed this account as part of Horner’s deceitful narrative.
“Athena was very much alive and unharmed when he placed her in the truck,” Stainton stated, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Upon picking her up, Tanner Horner warned Athena, ‘Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you,’ repeating it twice. Tragically, he followed through on that threat.”
“She was very much alive and very much uninjured when he put her in the truck,” he said, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “The first thing Tanner Horner says to Athena when he picks her up and puts her in his truck, he leans down and says, ‘Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you.’ He says that twice. … That’s the first thing out of his mouth. He made good on it.”
Jurors were shown a chilling image taken from a video inside the truck, according to The Associated Press, that showed Athena sitting on her knees behind the driver’s seat.
Stainton told jurors that Horner later covered up the video camera, but said jurors would heard audio of him attacking the young girl.
“You’re going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,” he said, per The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “And when I say it’s horrible, I mean it. I’ve been doing this 25 years, and I promise you, buckle up.”
He added that the child had “fought with the strength of 100 men,” saying “One thing you can’t unhear is the level of fight in a 7-year-old girl when she’s facing certain death.”
Athena Strand’s Stepmother Testifies About Her Disappearance
The girl’s stepmother Ashley Strand also took the stand April 7 to testify about the day Athena disappeared, per Fox 4. While Ashley cooked dinner for the family, she believed Athena was in her room doing laundry.
When she realized Athena had disappeared, she told jurors, “I thought maybe she was just hiding somewhere.”
Ashley searched the property and noticed the package, containing the Barbie Dolls, had been delivered by an abandoned trailer on the property, but she saw no sign of Ashley and called police.
Athena Strand Showed Signs of Sexual Assault, Prosecutors Say
Meanwhile, former Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin testified about the search effort launched to find Athena.
“I’ll never forget the morning of Dec. 1, citizens came from all parts of Wise County to help us find that child,” he said while on the stand, per the news outlet. “And we put them to work with our deputies, with our investigators, with our game wardens. It was shoulder to shoulder.”
Horner later led investigators to the young girl’s body after telling authorities he accidentally struck the young girl and then strangled her to keep her quiet, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Associated Press.
Akin told the jury, per Fox 4, that her naked body was found about 13 miles from home in the Trinity River. According to prosecutors, the body showed signs of sexual assault.
“It was heartbreaking,” Akin said of telling Athena’s family. “I wish I could have done something to make it better because, right to the last minute we were hoping that she was alive and well.”
Tanner Horner’s Defense Attorney Argued He Suffers From Mental Illness
As the sentencing trial continues, jurors will be tasked with deciding whether to sentence Horner to death or life in prison for the murder.
His attorney Steven Goble—who is advocating for a life sentence—told the jury in his opening remarks that they’d hear “overwhelming” evidence that would lay out Horner’s hard life, from his mom drinking during her pregnancy to the “various mental illnesses throughout his life” that he’d endured, per The Associated Press.
“When someone’s brain is what’s injured,” Goble said, “you don’t see it.”