On November 30, 2022, former FedEx driver Tanner Horner kidnapped and took the life of seven-year-old Athena Strand.
He was arrested in December 2022 and charged with capital mu*der of a person under 10 years of age and aggravated kidnapping. He pleaded guilty on April 7, the first day of his trial.
On Thursday, April 16, in the punishment phase of the trial, the court heard an audio recording of Horner attacking and strangling Athena that pushed the jurors to tears. In another video, the court saw him act surprised to hear about her kidnapping.
Warning the courtroom about the horrifying nature of the evidence, Judge George Gallagher said, “If you think you cannot watch it or listen to it, leave now. Now’s your time to get out.”
Tanner Horner feigned surprise to hear about the seven-year-old’s kidnapping
Image credits: Getty/The Dallas Morning News/Hearst Newspapers
Disclaimer: This article contains details involving violence against a minor that some readers may find distressing.
Tanner Horner kidnapped Athena Strand after delivering a Christmas present — a box of “You Can Be Anything” Barbies — to her address in Paradise, Fort Worth, Texas.
While pleading guilty at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center, Horner said that he accidentally hit the girl with his van and strangled her in a fit of panic.
Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said in his opening statement that it was “an absolute lie.”
The jury was later shown a photo of Athena, captured from a dash cam security video inside Horner’s vehicle. In the image, Athena was unhurt, alive, and sitting on her knees behind the driver’s seat.
Image credits: WFAA
In a dash cam recording from the day after the homicide, Horner acted shocked to hear about the incident and showed no signs of recognition.
The video showed the jury that Horner returned to the area of her residence, NBCDFW reported.
He drove down a road blocked by cars and encountered the local volunteers who were helping look for Athena. He honked several times before a woman approached his vehicle.He told the woman that there were people in his way and he had more packages to deliver.
Upon being informed by the woman that there had been a kidnapping of a “seven-year-old,” Horner looked shocked and replied, “Are you serious?”
Image credits: Facebook
In another footage, he was seen wiping down the back of his van with a large paper roll and a spray substance.
Texas Ranger Sgt. Job Espinoza, who reviewed hours of the video footage from the dash cam, took the stand and said that he first saw Horner cover the camera “with some type of sticky note or some type of object” on November 26, 2022, and then again on November 29.
On November 29, 2022, Horner delivered parcels to one Huffman family, who live on the same street as the Strands. On November 30, Espinoza saw Horner cover the camera at 4:09 p.m., half an hour before he arrived at Athena’s house.
Horner’s statements have contradicted his version of events.
Image credits: COURT TV
On April 7, Sgt. Espinoza said that Homer referenced an alter ego called “Zero” — a condition common with Dissociative Identity D*sorder — and cooperated more easily if the investigators addressed that persona.
“His demeanor, physical demeanor changes,” Espinoza said on the stand. “His head goes into a sideways motion. His eyes roll into the back of the head, and he pretends to turn it to ‘Zero.’’
On April 15, Horner’s lawyers claimed that he had autism.
Audio evidence of Tanner Horner’s crime reportedly made the jurors break down
Image credits: COURT TV
On Thursday, the court also saw dash cam footage of the moments before Athena’s homicide.
Athena’s parents, Jacob Strand and Maitlyn Gandy, who were divorced at the time of the incident, were not present when the video was played.
Image credits: COURT TV
In the footage, Horner was seen picking up Athena, putting her in the back of his van, and driving off. Athena could be heard asking if he was a kidnapper.
Horner covered the camera after threatening to hurt her if she screamed. The rest of the exchange was caught only in audio.
Image credits: FOX NEWS
He made small talk with the child before asking her to remove her shirt. The girl said no and asked for her mother, after which loud sounds of her screaming, crying, and banging were heard.
Some of the jurors were sobbing while witnessing the video evidence, several news outlets reported.
Image credits: KTVT/CBS Newspath
Horner admitted to having strangled her after this, taking her life, and later dumping her body in a creek 10 miles from her home, where the authorities later found her.
Forensic testimony revealed that male DNA was detected on swabs from the child’s s*xual as*ault kit, which has a very high probability of being Horner’s. Analysts also confirmed that there was blood under the girl’s fingernails and male DNA on her clothing.
Horner’s lawyers have asked for a reduced sentence, citing autism and mental illness
Image credits: Facebook
On Wednesday, April 15, Tanner Horner’s defense team filed 28 new motions at court, one of which was to preclude the de*th penalty owing to Tanner Horner’s autism.
The motion stated that the court has “categorically prohibited the imposition of the de*th penalty where a particular characteristic of the defendant renders him less culpable, negates the retributive and deterrent aims of capital punishment, or creates a risk of an erroneous de*th sentence.”
Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition characterized by differences in social communication, interaction, and behavior.
A convict having autism often proves to be a mitigating factor in criminal cases by reducing sentences or leading to specialized services.
On April 7, Horner’s attorney Steven Goble told the jury: “When someone’s brain is what’s injured, you don’t see it.”
Image credits: COURT TV
While acknowledging that the evidence against Horner was “overwhelming” and “terrible,” Goble revealed that the defendant’s mother drank while she was pregnant.
He also said that Horner has suffered from “various mental illnesses throughout his life” in addition to being exposed to a “massive amount of lead.”
Image credits: Facebook/Maitlyn Presley Gandy
Athena’s parents also testified on Wednesday. Her father said that the tragedy pushed him into drinking, ruined his marriage (to Elizabeth “Ashley” Stand, Athena’s stepmother), and forced the girl’s sister to go into therapy.
According to Texas law, Horner currently faces either capital punishment or life in prison without parole. The trial will resume on Wednesday, April 22.
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