In a heartbreaking moment in court this Tuesday, a final photo was released of 7-year-old Athena Strand who was abducted from her driveway in late 2022 and later murdered and dumped near a river. The release of the black-and-white photo captured in the back of a FedEx delivery van that showed the girl kneeling behind the driver’s seat coincided with a turn of events at the courtroom.
34-year-old Tanner Horner, the driver responsible for the delivery, unexpectedly pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. The plea came just as his trial was prepared to begin, sparing the court a lengthy fact-finding phase but doing little to ease the emotional weight of the evidence presented.
Horner, who was delivering a box of “You Can Be Anything” Barbies to Athena’s rural home in Paradise, near Fort Worth, claimed he accidentally struck her with his van and then panicked and put her inside the van, and eventually strangled her and left her body near a river, Express reported.
However, judging from the image, prosecutors believe Athena Strand wasn’t seriously injured and what Horner did to her was a deliberate decision, not one made in a state of panic.
During opening statements, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told the court the photograph showed Athena was “very much alive and very much uninjured” when she was placed in the truck.
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Stainton alleged the first words Horner spoke to her were: “Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you,” repeated twice.
James Stainton told jurors they would be shown footage from inside the van and would also hear audio recorded after the camera had been deliberately covered. Stainton said: “You are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child. And when I say it’s horrible, I mean it.”
He continued: “You can’t unhear” the audio, calling it evidence of “the level of cold-heartedness that you’re going to see.”
He added that Athena fought back, leaving Horner’s DNA under her fingernails and “in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.”
Jurors were told Horner seemed composed in the video, at one point whistling as he drove, while Athena appeared clearly upset, undermining his account of events spiraling out of control.
Judge George Gallagher instructed the jury: “Now your sole duty will be to listen to all of the evidence that is going to be presented to you because you will be using that evidence to determine the proper punishment to be assessed.”
Investigators were able to identify Horner after confirming he had delivered the set of Barbie dolls to the home shortly before Athena vanished. He later led authorities to her body just two days after she was reported missing.
With Horner admitting to the crime, the proceedings have now moved to the sentencing phase. The jury is no longer tasked with determining guilt, but the ultimate punishment. They need to decide whether Horner will be sentenced to death or to a life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Elizabeth “Ashley” Strand, Athena’s stepmother who first reported her missing, became emotional on the witness stand, saying her now 14-year-old daughter still runs and hides at the sight of a delivery driver and continues to suffer from nightmares.
According to Court TV, Horner’s defense attorney urged the court to show mercy, arguing that his client was born to an exotic dancer who consumed alcohol during pregnancy, had struggled with mental illness his entire life, and was exposed to lead as a child.
Sentencing proceedings are expected to continue for approximately two weeks.
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