FedEx driver Tanner Horner, who kidnapped and killed seven-year-old Athena Strand, has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Athena Strand’s body was found two days after she disappeared from her home in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth, Texas, in 2022, after being abducted by a FedEx driver who was delivering her Christmas present.
Tanner Horner, 34, told detectives after his arrest that he placed the young girl into his van after accidentally hitting her with it and then strangled her to prevent her from telling anyone.
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Wise County District Attorney James Stainton showed the court video of little Athena alive and well in the FedEx truck after her abduction.
The court heard that Horner told Athena, ‘Don’t scream, or I’ll hurt you’ during the terrifying ordeal.
After a two-week hearing, a jury decided to execute Horner by lethal injection rather than sentence him to life without parole.
In a statement following Horner’s initial indictment, Athena’s mom, Maitlyn Gandy, said she supported the death penalty in this case, adding: ‘Every breath he takes is one my daughter doesn’t.’
During the emotional sentencing, Athena’s uncle, Elijah Strand, told Horner: ‘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. Athena was more than a headline. She was laughter, curiosity, kindness, and innocence.
‘And she had dreams that she will never get to chase, birthdays that she will never celebrate, and a life she’ll never get to live, because of his actions.’
Stainton previously told the court that Horner’s DNA was found ‘in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a seven-year-old girl’.
Horner had pleaded guilty to the capital murder of a child under 10 as well as aggravated kidnapping.
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Horner’s claim that he took the youngster after accidentally running her over was an ‘absolute lie’, Stainton told the jury, pointing to the image showing her unhurt behind the driver’s seat.
He said Athena fought Horner, and his DNA was found under her fingernails.
Horner’s defense attorney, Steven Goble, had claimed that physical and mental illness played a part in the killing.
He told jurors: ‘When someone’s brain is what’s injured, you don’t see it.’
While acknowledging the evidence against Horner was ‘overwhelming’ and ‘terrible’, he told them Horner’s mother drank while she was pregnant.
He also said Horner has autism and suffered from ‘various mental illnesses throughout his life’ in addition to being exposed to a ‘massive amount of lead’.
Deputy Editor & UK News
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