‘She fought with the strength of 100 men’: FedEx driver admits killing 7-year-old in back of van after delivering package of Barbie dolls
Left: Athena Strand (Wise County Sheriff's Office). Right: Tanner L. Horner (WCSO).
A Texas courtroom was filled with tension on Tuesday as 34-year-old delivery driver Tanner Horner admitted to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand, abruptly ending the trial’s opening phase. Horner entered guilty pleas to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, immediately moving the case into the sentencing portion, where the jury will determine whether he receives life in prison or the death penalty.
Horner had been scheduled to stand trial for Athena’s murder, but his last-minute plea shifted the proceedings, leaving jurors to focus solely on deciding his punishment. Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty, meaning the jury will weigh evidence and testimony before issuing a final sentence.
During the opening statements for the penalty phase, prosecutor Patrick Berry prepared jurors for distressing details, including audio recordings from inside the delivery van where Athena was killed. “You’re going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,” Berry said. “And when I say it’s horrible, I mean it. I’ve been doing this 25 years, and I promise you: buckle up.”
While cameras did not capture the killing directly, Berry told jurors that the audio would reveal Athena’s final moments. “The one thing you’ll hear — and it’s something you can’t unhear — is the extraordinary fight of a 7-year-old girl facing certain death,” he said. “We talk about warriors in America. That little girl was a warrior. She fought with the strength of 100 men.”
Athena’s stepmother, Elizabeth “Ashley” Strand, who reported the girl missing, described the lasting impact on the family. She testified that her other daughter now hides from delivery drivers and experiences recurring nightmares. Investigators, including then-Sheriff Lane Akin, also took the stand. Akin became emotional recalling the moment he told the family that Athena’s body had been recovered miles from her home. “It was heartbreaking, and they were devastated,” he said. “We hoped, right until the last minute, that she was alive.”
Testimony revealed that Horner initially gave conflicting accounts of his actions. He first told investigators he could not remember being at the home and later said he had stopped deliveries because he felt unwell.
Athena disappeared on November 30. Authorities discovered that a FedEx package had been delivered to her home around the same time, according to a previously reported arrest affidavit. Investigators identified the delivery truck and reviewed interior camera footage, which showed a girl resembling Athena inside the vehicle. Horner was seen speaking with her in the van.
Horner allegedly admitted to hitting Athena with his truck, but claimed she was not seriously injured. According to the affidavit, he panicked, placed her in the van, and ultimately decided to kill her. He admitted attempting to break her neck before strangling her with his hands. Horner told investigators he believed she would report being hit to her father.
Authorities said Horner led them to a site near the Trinity River in Boyd, Texas, where Athena’s body was recovered roughly 10 miles from her home. Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, said the package delivered by Horner contained a Christmas gift — a “You Can Be Anything” Barbie — and noted that Athena had planned to return to Oklahoma after the holiday.
The jury will now review further evidence and testimony before deciding whether Tanner Horner will face life in prison or the death penalty.
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