Delivery driver admits he murdered 7-year-old, death penalty possible

A former FedEx driver has pleaded guilty to the 2022 murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, who was kidnapped and killed while the driver delivered a Christmas gift to her Texas home.

The driver, Tanner Lynn Horner, pleaded guilty on April 7 during his murder trial, which will proceed with testimony before jurors who will determine whether he will face life in prison or the death penalty.

Horner previously told investigators that he took Athena on Nov. 30, 2022, after he accidentally hit her with his vehicle, so that she wouldn't report him, though she wasn't seriously injured initially. He said he panicked and strangled her after she said she would tell her father he hit her.

"That is an absolute lie," prosecuting attorney James Stainton said in an opening statement.

Stainton said the killing was planned and that Athena fought back against an hour of violence.

Stainton said Horner gave multiple differing stories about what happened to Athena and where her body was during the course of a police investigation. Her body was found Dec. 2, two days after she was reported missing by her stepmother.

Stainton told jurors that Horner should have represented a "modern-day Santa Claus" to Athena, a "strong-willed, precocious" child, and was delivering what would have been Athena's Christmas gift to her home in Paradise, a town of fewer than 500 people about 60 miles outside Dallas. Ashley Strand, her stepmother, said the package contained Barbies.

"He rolled up bringing what we thought would be joy and happiness in a package," Stainton said. "Well, that's not what he brought that day. ... He brought violence, fear and death."

Stainton said inside the FedEx truck where Horner took Athena, a video camera captured some of the last moments of her life. A still image from inside the truck shows Athena kneeling, still alive and alert, behind the driver's seat.

Horner told Athena, "Don't scream or I'll hurt you," Stainton said the video showed.

Stainton said at some point, Horner covered the camera, so there is no video of him killing Athena, but there is audio that will be played in full for the jury.

"It's an hour. It's not five minutes. It's an hour. It's not just one time that he's trying to kill her. It's over and over and over again. You can hear the banging in the truck. You can hear the screams. This is what's coming. It didn't happen fast," he said.

Stainton said Athena fought back. She had Horner's DNA under her fingernails, and DNA was also found "places where you shouldn't find DNA on a 7-year-old girl."

"She fought with the strength of 100 men," Stainton said.

Athena was found naked in the Trinity River near an area called Bobo's Crossing, about 12 to 13 miles away from her home, Stainton and witness former Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said.

Defense attorney Steven Goble said Horner suffered from mental illnesses throughout his life and is autistic. Goble asked jurors to consider mitigating factors and sentence Horner to life in prison rather than the death penalty.