The heartbroken family of Athena Strand, the seven-year-old kidnapped and murdered in November 2022, have broken their silence with a message for her killer after he was sentenced to death.
FedEx driver Tanner Horner abducted Athena while she was playing outside her family home in Texas. After driving away with her in his van, he later strangled her to death and dumped her body in a wooded area nearby.
Harrowing video and audio footage from inside the vehicle captured Tanner, 34, telling the young girl that she was pretty, before instructing her to take off her clothes.
Horner had delivered a package containing Barbie dolls intended as a Christmas gift for Athena. He initially attempted to argue that he had hit the girl with his van and, in panic, bundled her into his vehicle to drive away from the scene.
His trial has been ongoing for weeks, with disturbing evidence detailing what happened inside the delivery truck shown to the courtroom. According to reports, the footage was so gut-wrenching that jurors were reduced to tears, while Athena’s family had to leave the courtroom.
On the opening day of the trial, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton warned jurors about the brutal evidence they would see.
“You’re 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 told the jury, according to New York Post.
“I’ve been doing this 25 years, and I promise you, buckle up.”
On April 7, Horner plead guilty to his heinous crimes, leaving the jury to deliberate for 19 days whether they would recommend the death penalty or life in prison.
Ultimately, they recommended that Horner be sentenced to death by lethal injection. Horner reportedly appeared emotionless as the sentence was read out.
During the trial, Athena’s uncle Elijah took the stand and directly addressed her killer.
“You did not just take a life. You destroyed a family,” Elijah said.
“You took a little girl who trusted the world and repaid that innocence with violence. You chose to cause pain that will last generations. You say you found God, but what you did to Athena stands in direct opposition to everything that you now claim to believe.”
He went on: “You will face the wrath of God, 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.”
In jail, Horner had sent a letter to Athena’s family telling them he was sorry for taking ‘their little angel away’.
Rest in peace, Athena Strand
