Horrifying new photo shows Athena Strand, 7, being driven to her death by FedEx driver who abducted and strangled her while delivering her Barbie Christmas present

A nightmarish new photo shows a seven-year-old girl being dragged to her death by a FedEx driver who kidnapped and killed her as she was delivering her Christmas present.

Seven-year-old Athena Strand was seen standing behind Tanner Horner in a photo released by prosecutors Tuesday after the 34-year-old Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder just before his trial began.

In the black-and-white photo taken on the day he drowned in November 2022, Athena looked worried, focused on the road ahead of Horner.

He kidnapped the child while delivering Barbie, which was to be one of the child’s main holiday gifts, to her home. Horner told investigators he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, ‘panicked,’ grabbed her and put her in his vehicle.

Afraid of what would happen if he told Strand’s family, he said he strangled her in his truck and dumped her body on the side of a country road, seven miles from his home. His body was found two days later.

But the new photo seemingly disproved the killer’s claim that he accidentally hit the girl and walked away with her body.

Horner, who previously denied killing Strand, pleaded guilty Tuesday to capital murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping.

The case has now been sent to the penalty phase, meaning the jury must decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison without parole.

Athena Strand, 7, was kidnapped and strangled on Nov. 30, 2022, by Horner, a contract FedEx employee who was delivering gifts to her family’s home in North Texas.

State District Judge George Gallagher asked Horner to stand as he entered court at the beginning of his trial Tuesday.

Charges of capital murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping were read and Horner was asked how he wanted to plead.

“I’m guilty, your honor,” Horner said.

The trial will continue as normal, but the guilt-innocence phase will be skipped. The jury will instead be tasked with determining the murderer’s sentence.

“Your sole duty now will be to hear all the evidence that will be presented to you, as you will use that evidence to determine the appropriate sentence to impose,” Gallagher told jurors.

Under Texas law, the death penalty for a person under the age of ten makes Horner subject to the death penalty.

In their opening statement Tuesday, prosecutors told the jury how Horner spun a “web of lies” throughout the investigation into Strand’s death.

Wise County District Attorney James Stainton warned the jury would be shown video from the day of the murder, showing the moment she was allegedly strangled to death.

Although the camera was off at the time of the murder, Stainton said the audio was still recorded by the device.

Horner has now pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping of a child under 10

Horner was delivering Anything Possible Barbie to Strand’s father and stepmother’s home in Paradise, Texas, when he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, “panicked,” grabbed her and put her in his vehicle.

‘Someone covered the camera because they didn’t want you to see it. What happened? The audio still works and you will hear it. “You will hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,” he said.

‘And when I say it’s terrible, I mean it. ‘I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I promise you, fasten your seatbelts.’

The prosecutor argued that Horner repeatedly lied to investigators and claimed the “only true thing” he told police was that he killed the little girl.

‘It will be difficult for you to keep up with the network and order of lies he has created. “Ly after lie, lie after lie,” Stainton told the court.

‘What was the story told in the beginning? Did he hit her with a truck? He went crazy because he thought he would somehow lose his job or the woman would tell about him. He took her, still afraid, and killed her.

‘This is absolutely a lie. There is no truth to this in any shape or form. None. None. Postal code. Not on impulse. There’s no truth to this.’

Stainton claimed that when police first asked Horner if Strand was alive, he told the officer: ‘He wasn’t alive when I put him in the truck.’

‘Let me tell you now, you will see right at the front. “He was very much alive and uninjured when they put him in the truck,” the prosecutor added.

Fearing what would happen if he told Strand’s family, he strangled her in the truck and dumped her body on the side of a country road, seven miles from her home. His body was found two days later

However, the defense pointed to Horner’s physical and mental illnesses in their opening statement.

He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at a young age and was exposed to lead during his formative years, they told the jury.

Defense lawyer Steven Goble told the court: “You don’t have to be a scientist or a doctor to know that lead has terrible effects on the brain.”

Goble acknowledged the evidence against his client was overwhelming and urged the jury to take Horner’s voluntary confession into account when determining his sentence.

He argued that life in prison without parole was a “horrible punishment” enough and asked the jury to choose that over execution.

Horner was arrested on December 2, 2022, the same day Strand’s body was found.

The suspect allegedly confessed to the police that he abducted and kidnapped the child during delivery to his family’s home.

On February 17, 2023, a grand jury in Wise County formally indicted Horner for the kidnapping and murder of the teenage girl.

In addition to the murder charge, Horner was also accused of sexually assaulting a child almost a decade ago and was charged with three more counts of sexually assaulting a child in Fort Worth in 2013.

Horner’s lawyers had previously argued that his autism diagnosis should disqualify him from the death penalty.

In a motion to abolish the death penalty filed in January this year, his lawyers said: ‘Mr. Horner’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his moral blameworthiness, defeats the retributive and deterrent purposes of the death penalty, and leaves him at an unacceptable risk of being wrongfully sentenced to death

Strand’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, strongly supported Horner being sentenced to death if convicted of murdering her daughter.

Gandy released a statement after Horner was charged, expressing his love for his late daughter and his support for the death penalty.

He said at the time: ‘I want to thank the Wise County grand jury for their role in this process. ‘It was undoubtedly very difficult for them to hear the facts and circumstances surrounding the abduction and murder of my seven-year-old daughter.’

“I want them to know that their work is deeply appreciated,” Gandy added. ‘Tanner Horner’s indictment is the beginning of a long journey through the justice system.

‘I am grateful for everyone’s continued support and for keeping Athena’s name and memory alive. Please take a moment to hug your children and loved ones. ‘No one is promised another day.’

‘I support the death penalty in any future sentence,’ he told WFAA. ‘Every breath he takes is a breath my daughter can’t take.

‘If I could sit across from him, I would tell him that he is nothing but Athena is absolutely everything, and I would make sure everyone in this world knows that she is nothing and he is everything.’

Strand’s father, Jacob, took legal action against FedEx, claiming they did not conduct adequate background checks before hiring Horner.

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