Left: Athena Strand (Wise County Sheriff's Office). Right: Tanner L. Horner (WCSO).
A 34-year-old delivery driver has admitted to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand, abruptly ending what was already a highly emotional trial inside the Texas courtroom.
Tanner Horner pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count each of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, leaving jurors to now decide whether to give him life in prison or the death penalty. Horner had been set to stand trial for the child's murder, but moments before proceedings began, he entered the guilty plea, immediately shifting the case into the penalty phase.
Because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, the jury will still determine Horner's punishment.
In opening statements for the penalty phase, prosecutor Patrick Berry warned jurors about the disturbing evidence they are expected to see and hear, including audio from inside the delivery van where Athena was killed.
"You're gonna 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."
Berry added that while the view of the actual killing was obstructed, jurors would hear audio capturing the child's final moments.
"The one thing you're gonna hear — that is something you can't unhear — is the level of fight that a 7-year-old girl has when she's facing down certain death," he said. "We talk about warriors in America. I'll tell you, that little girl right there is a warrior. She fought with the strength of 100 men."
Elizabeth "Ashley" Strand, Athena's stepmother who reported her missing, testified about the lasting trauma on the family, saying her other daughter now runs and hides at the sight of delivery drivers and suffers from nightmares.
Investigators also took the stand, including then-Sheriff Lane Akin, who became emotional recalling the moment he informed the family that Athena's body had been found in a body of water miles from her home.
"It was heartbreaking, and they were just devastated," Akin said. "I wish I could have done something to make it better. We were hoping, right to the last minute, that she was alive and well."
Testimony further showed that Horner initially gave investigators inconsistent accounts of his actions, at first claiming he did not remember being at the home before later saying he stopped deliveries because he felt sick.
The case stems from Athena's disappearance on Nov. 30, when authorities learned a FedEx package had been delivered to her home around the same time she vanished, according to a previously reported arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Investigators identified the delivery truck and reviewed interior camera footage, which allegedly showed that the driver — later identified as Horner — "had taken a young girl who was visually similar to Athena in his van." The footage also showed Horner speaking with her in the vehicle.
After being located by authorities, Horner allegedly confessed to striking Athena with his truck before abducting and killing her.
"[Horner] stated when he was backing up in his FedEx truck he accidentally hit Athena with the truck, but she was not seriously injured, [and he] panicked and put her in the van," the affidavit states. "[Horner] stated Athena was alive at that time, talking to him, and told him her name was Athena."
He allegedly told investigators he then decided to kill the child.
"[Horner] stated he attempted to break Athena's neck to kill her," the affidavit says. "[Horner] stated, when he attempted to break Athena's neck it did not work so he strangled her with his bare hands in the back of the FedEx van."
Horner allegedly said he killed the child because he believed "she was going to tell her father about being hit by the FedEx truck," according to the affidavit.
Authorities later said Horner led investigators to a location near the Trinity River in Boyd, Texas, where Athena's body was found roughly 10 miles from her home.
At the time, Athena's mother, Maitlyn Gandy, said the package Horner delivered contained a Christmas gift for her daughter — a "You Can Be Anything" Barbie — and noted the girl had been planning to return home to Oklahoma after the holiday break.
Jurors will now hear additional evidence before deciding whether Horner will spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death.
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