A former FedEx driver was sentenced to death on Tuesday, May 5, after pleading guilty to killing seven-year-old Athena Strand, who he took from her Texas home while delivering a Christmas gift. Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided on Tanner Horner’s punishment after hearing days of testimony and evidence, which included audio of Strand’s last moments from inside his delivery van.
Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder last month. He killed Strand in 2022, and her body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth. She died from blunt-force trauma and strangulation.
When Athena Strand’s chilling audio left jurors distraught
Jurors in a Tarrant County courtroom previously heard a graphic audio of Strand’s final moments inside Tanner Horner’s FedEx truck, which left them visibly distraught. Tarrant County District Judge Ruben Gonzalez ordered courtroom cameras removed before the recording played, because of its graphic nature.
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Reporters remained inside. Family members left the courtroom, and prosecutors rested their case immediately afterward.
Jurors sobbed as they heard excerpts from more than an hour of video and audio that captured the little girl’s tragic final moments, starting from the time she was lured into Horner’s vehicle and continuing through the brutal attack, reported local news outlet NBC DFW.
Judge George Gallagher warned observers in the courtroom when the recording was played on April 16, saying, “If you think you cannot watch it or listen to it, leave now. Now’s your time to get out.”
Strand’s parents left the room before the audio was played. It reportedly left jurors shaking and weeping. Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, apologized to “innocent people” who had to listen to the recording in full, reported Fox4.
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“Not anyone in this room besides Tanner Horner asked for what’s on that video, and Athena definitely did not,” she said.
Jurors and observers reacted to certain moments, including Strand’s first questions to Horner, “What are you doing?” and “Are you a kidnapper?”
At one point, Horner was heard telling Strand, “You’re really pretty. You know that?”
Horner was heard telling Strand, who began to cry, to remove her shirt. He threatened to hurt her if she screamed. Strand repeatedly told Horner no and asked to go home to her mom.
Later in the audio, Jingle Bell Rock could be heard playing in the background as Horner told the screaming child to “shut up” or he would hurt her more, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The audio captured the horrific sounds of the attack, including banging, screaming, crying and choking. Jurors reached for tissues and sniffled in the silence that fell between the audio playback.
was found naked in the Trinity River on December 2.
