Tragic Athena Strand, 7, is pictured being driven to her murder | US | News
This chilling photo captures the final moments of a seven-year-old girl who was led to her death by a FedEx delivery driver.
Tanner Horner kidnapped and murdered Athena Strand after a Christmas package delivery to her home. The court heard Horner, 34, told authorities he accidentally hit Athena with the van, then strangled her in a panic, but initially denied murder.
But Horner confessed to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on Tuesday before his trial began, prompting prosecutors to release the devastating footage taken on the day the teenager died. In the black-and-white photo, Athena sits in the van while Horner focuses on the road ahead near Fort Worth, Texas.
He was later strangled, and two days later his body was found on the side of a rural road, about seven miles from his home. Horner now faces either the death penalty or life in prison.
Horner took possession of the Athena after completing a Christmas delivery while working for contractor FedEx. He told investigators that he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, “panicked,” grabbed her and put her in his vehicle.
Fearing the consequences of confessing to Athena’s family, he confessed to strangling her inside the truck before dumping her body nearby.
But a newly revealed photo taken from footage inside the delivery truck appears to shatter the killer’s claim that he accidentally hit the girl and unknowingly took her body away.
During opening statements, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said: “The only true thing Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her.
“It will be difficult for you to keep up with the pattern and network of lines that he has put together. Lie after lie, lie after lie.”
“The first thing Tanner Horner says to Athena when he picks her up and puts her in the truck, he leans over and says: ‘Don’t yell or I’ll hurt you.’ He says that twice.”
The Texas case has now moved into the sentencing phase; At this stage, the jury must decide whether the person will receive the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
“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,” State District Judge George Gallagher told the jury.
Horner was taken into custody on December 2, 2022, the day Strand’s body was found. He allegedly confessed to the police that he kidnapped the child during delivery to his family’s home.
