FedEx driver sentenced to death penalty for killing girl left heartbreaking package before kidnapping her
Warning: This article contains details which some readers may find distressing.
FexEx driver Tanner Horner has been sentenced to death after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering seven-year-old Athena Strand.
She had been playing outside her home in Texas in November 2022 when Horner arrived with a delivery, a Christmas gift of ‘You Can Be Anything’ Barbie dolls which Athena's family had ordered as a present for her.
On a day when she should have been getting a Christmas present from her family Athena was kidnapped from her home by the delivery driver, she is thought to have been murdered around an hour after she disappeared.
According to CNN prosecutors told jurors that Horner had told 'lie upon lie upon lie upon lie', including claiming he'd accidentally hit the child with his van while making the delivery and then killed her in a panic.
He had also given the police two false locations for the seven-year-old before telling them the actual location, with her body found two days after she had been kidnapped by a river around nine miles from her home.
The jury had to decide between the verdicts of life in prison without the possibility of parole and the death penalty, and were shown horrific video and audio from inside Horner's delivery van after the kidnapping.
The former FexEx driver was filmed putting Athena in his van and driving away, telling the girl not to scream or he would hurt her.
He later covered the camera, but it still recorded sound as the murderer asked the girl questions and then stopped the van and told Athena they were going to 'hang out' before telling her to take off her shirt.
The crying girl asked Horner why he was kidnapping her and he said 'because you are pretty'.
“My mom says I can’t do that to somebody. And you can’t do that to me either," she had told him.
The audio evidence the jury heard lasted an hour and Athena could be heard screaming, along with choking and slamming noises.
Horner told her: "If you don’t shut up, I will hurt you worse."
A medical examiner told the court that Athena had been killed by blunt force injuries, strangulation and smothering.
The murderer wrote a letter to Athena's family apologising for having 'done a terrible thing to your family'.
Athena's family said Horner's actions had 'destroyed' them and her uncle Elijah said her murderer would 'face the wrath of God'.
He said: “I want you to know that you are nothing.
"You are a footnote in Athena's story. Her name will forever be remembered.
"Her name will forever be celebrated and everyone will forget you. You wanted your 15 minutes of fame. You got it. And no one's going to remember you after this."
Timeline of the investigation into Athena Strand’s murder
30 November 2022
Tanner Horner delivers a Christmas present to Athena Strand’s home, a box of ‘You Can Be Anything’ Barbie dolls.
Athena had got into an argument with her stepmum Elizabeth Strand, and it's believed she went outside to go to her makeshift bedroom in a converted storage shed, where she was staying during home renovations.
Horner kidnaps her. She is thought to have died about an hour after her disappearance.
CBS reports that police track down Horner the same day through digital evidence.
1 December 2022
Texas' Department of Public Safety issues an amber alert to try and find Athena. Two hundred civilians helped scour over 50 acres of land without success.
2 December 2022
Police find Athena’s naked body dumped near a river in Boyd, around nine miles from her home. Horner gives the police two false locations, before telling them where to find the body.
He originally says he ran over Athena and panicked, before admitting to killing her.
He is charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping and held on a $1.5 million bond.
6 March 2023
Horner pleads not guilty during his arraignment in Wise County.
Technicalities such as who should represent Horner and concerns around pre-trial publicity are said to have slowed down legal proceedings.
7 April 2026
Horner changes his plea to guilty just as his trial is about to begin.
Jurors are instead asked if he should receive the death penalty or life in prison.
They are asked two questions. First, do you consider Horner to be a continuing threat to society? Second, are there mitigating circumstances that should exclude Horner from receiving the death penalty?
5 May 2026
Tanner Horner is sentenced to death by lethal injection.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Joe Harker