The Death of Athena Strand: Jurors to hear, see disturbing video of former FedEx driver killing 7-year-old girl | Live updates

FORT WORTH, Texas — Tanner Horner, a former FedEx driver, has admitted to the capital murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand. Now, a jury is hearing evidence to determine whether he gets life in prison, or the death penalty.

His trial began Monday April 7 and is expected to continue for weeks. WFAA will have gavel-to-gavel coverage on our TV streaming app WFAA+. 

In November 2022, Horner told police he struck Strand with his delivery van while backing up. He kidnapped and strangled, allegedly out of fear that she would tell her father about the incident, authorities said. Horner later led authorities to where he had left her body in Wise County near Boyd.

Horner’s lawyers have asked the Tarrant County court to take the death penalty off the table, saying he has autism. They argued that Horner’s Autism Spectrum Disorder “reduces his moral blameworthiness, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully sentenced to death.” They also argued that data obtained from Horner’s phone should not be admissible at trial. Lawyers not directly involved in the case told WFAA they have mixed feelings about whether Horner’s defense will be successful. 

A jury will now decide that question over the next few days.

WFAA will provide live updates on the trial throughout the day here. You can watch anchored, gavel-to-gavel coverage and analysis of the proceedings live on WFAA+. Here’s how.

WFAA will provide live updates on the trial throughout the day here. You can watch anchored, gavel-to-gavel coverage and analysis of the proceedings live on WFAA+. Here’s how.

The judge ended the day of testimony with no explanation. It’s unclear why the trial ended early today.

After a lunch break, Patrick McGuire, a FBI special agent, took the witness stand. He testified he was tasked with tracking down who delivered the FedEx package to Athena’s house. They tracked it to the Alliance Airport location. From there, they identified the contractor whose truck made the delivery. A supervisor got Horner on speakerphone in front of the FBI, and he claimed to not remember making that delivery. McGuire testified he then caught up with Horner along his delivery route. 

McGuire said when they walked up to the delivery truck, they startled Horner, who dropped a package as he was getting out. Horner then claimed to remember the delivery. Horner told McGuire that he saw a suspicious green van in the area, and investigators began looking for it. During the interview, McGuire recalled that Horner got emotional and said he couldn’t believe something like this could happen to a child.

McGuire said he went back to the command post, but noted that he still had questions for Horner, even as the investigation turned to locating the green vehicle Horner had told them about. McGuire said they called Horner on the phone to ask him about a stretch of time where Horner was unaccounted for on his route. Horner told McGuire he had not been felling well and pulled over to throw up near a Love’s truck stop to explain the delay.

McGuire said Horner never admitted to him having any role in Athena’s disappearance or slaying. McGuire said they were able to get recordings from the camera showing the inside of the delivery van, and they could see Horner putting Athena in the van.

The next witness is former Wise County Sheriff Lake Akin. He led the investigation into Athena’s death in 2022. He served 16 years with the Texas Rangers. He was elected sheriff in 2016. 

He drove from Llano to Wise County to help supervise the search for Athena. He testified that the area around the Paradise community is rural, heavily wooded and not easy to search — but the community turned up in droves to help. 

“Citizens came from all parts of Wise County to help us find that child,” the former sheriff testified. “It was shoulder to shoulder,” he said, estimating 300 people showed up. “They brought their four-wheelers, some brought horses, some brought dogs. It was…” the sheriff began, and paused, his lip trembling with emotion. “I appreciate the fact that so many people came out to help us that day.”

He told jurors that as the hours passed, law enforcement began to focus on Horner. Investigators determined that the FedEx delivery van was in the area at the time Athena was last seen and they eventually identified Horner as the driver. Horner was taken into custody, and on Friday, they found her body in the Trinity River, about 400 yards off a county road next to a bridge, about 10 miles from her house. The sheriff recalled going to see the girl’s body so he could inform the family Athena had indeed been found. 

“It was heartbreaking. They were just devastated,” the sheriff recalled, growing emotional at the memory. “We were hoping she was alive and well. The information I brought back was not what they wanted to hear.”

Elizabeth Ashley Strand (who goes by Ashley), Athena’s stepmother, has taken the stand to testify. She told jurors that Athena’s mother, who was living in Oklahoma, had been sick and that Athena was living when them in Paradise in Wise County beginning in the summer of 2022. Athena extended her stay with them when school started in August 2022. She testified she’s known Athena since 2017. 

Ashley described the day Athena was abducted Nov. 30, 2022. It was a Wednesday. She told jurors that after school, Athena was supposed to be sorting her laundry while she cooked dinner, but Athena didn’t want to and played instead on the 10-acre property they shared with other family members. “Just being kids in the country,” Ashley testified. After Athena got home from school, Athena’s dad left for a hunting trip out of town. When dinner was ready about 6:30 p.m., Ashley noticed that Athena was missing. 

Relatives also hadn’t seen Athena, so Ashley called the police. “We were everywhere all over the property looking for her,” Ashley testified. “I thought maybe she was just hiding somewhere, playing hide and seek.” She said Athena loved living in the country and fondly described her “wild” and “feral” and happiest when she was playing outside.

Ashley testified that as many as 50 people, including law enforcement, eventually showed up to search for Athena that evening. At one point, Ashley told jurors she found a blue Walmart box that FedEx had delivered outside an abandoned dwelling on the property. It was just off the driveway from where several police SUVs were parked. Ashley said she had been expecting the box, which contained a collection of six Barbie dolls she had ordered for Athena for Christmas.

Athena wasn’t found until that Friday, two days later. Ashley testified that Athena had no bruises or injuries when she went missing. 

Jurors were shown what appeared to be a still image from the delivery van’s interior camera showing Horner driving and Athena standing behind him. She does not appear to be injured. Horner had told police when he was first questioned that he had accidentally backed into her.

10:07 a.m.

Athena’s first grade teacher Lindsey Thompson is the first witness to testify. She told jurors about how hard it was losing Athena, and how school counselors and volunteers came in to support her classmates as they dealt with the grief of the loss. 

The defense lawyer begins his opening statement by saying that, unlike sports injuries, some brain injuries aren’t obvious when looking at someone, suggesting that his client is in some way disabled. He also told jurors that Horner’s mother was a stripper who drank when he was in her womb, and that he was also exposed to lead poisoning in his youth. “Life without parole is a terrible punishment,” he told jurors.

“Don’t scream, or I’ll hurt you,” DA Stainton tells the jury that Horner told Athena when he kidnapped her in his delivery truck. He tells the jury that “she fought with the strength of 100 men” to stay alive when Horner abducted her. Stainton says they have video evidence of part of the crime, apparently from the delivery truck camera, but Horner covered up the camera pens during parts of the attack — however, there is audio of her struggle, he tells jurors.

Stainton says that investigators found DNA on Athena’s body, suggesting sexual assault occurred.

Jurors are being brought into the courtroom. The judge formally took Horner’s guilty plea, and instructed the jury that they now will have to hear evidence so that they can decide punishment. Wise County District Attorney James Stainton is now delivering his opening statement to the jury.

The judge called for a break while the jurors are brought in. It’s unclear at this point how much evidence both sides will put forth, or how long that will take, but the question at this point is whether Horner deserved life in prison or the death penalty.

As soon as the court feed went live, the judge was heard talking to the defense team, and Horner, about his apparent decision to plead guilty. That would mean that the guilt-innocence phase of the trial would be skipped over, and the question about whether he received the death penalty or life in prison would begin.

All this is happening before the jurors are brought into the courtroom.