A FedEx driver who admitted last month to the 2022 kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Athena Strand has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Tanner Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder on April 7 at the start of his trial, immediately sending the case into the penalty phase.
A Texas jury reached its decision Tuesday after 19 days of testimony. The sentence will be automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Horner faced a punishment of either life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, pointing to key evidence that included a chilling, hour-long audio recording captured inside Horner’s delivery van during the attack.
The jury also heard testimony from investigators about Horner’s confession, the search for Athena, and the recovery of her body.
According to prosecutors, Horner was delivering packages to Athena’s home in Paradise, Texas, in November 2022 when he abducted her, placing her in his truck before killing her.
In closing arguments on May 5, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said the case was among the “worst of the worst,” and the kind of situation the state reserves the death penalty for.
Prosecutors told the jury that Horner fantasized about Strand’s murder.
“Tanner Horner was driving a FedEx truck, and I believe he had fantasized about this. I believe this was something he had in mind,” the prosecution said. “The experts told you that he fantasized about things. He fantasized about what he wanted to be. He fantasized about being a superhero. I think it’s reasonable to believe that he planned this as well. This was something that was in his mind.”
Horner’s defense attorneys, however, urged jurors to spare Horner’s life, presenting testimony about his troubled upbringing, autism diagnosis, exposure to toxic levels of lead, and mental health struggles.
They argued prosecutors failed to prove he would pose a continuing threat in prison and said those factors warranted a life sentence. But jurors rejected those arguments.
Emotions ran high in the courtroom as the sentence was read, with family members of Athena crying. Her uncle spoke to Horner directly, describing the lasting impact of her death on the family.
“You did not just take a life,” he said. “You destroyed a family. You took a little girl who trusted the world and repaid that innocence with violence. You chose to cause pain that will last generations. You say you found God, but what you did to Athena stands in direct opposition to everything that you now claim to believe.”
“You will face the wrath of God,” he continued. “I want you to know that 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. You wanted your 15 minutes of fame. You got it. And no one’s going to remember you after this.”
Horner will be transferred to the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in West Livingston, Texas. His execution date will be set at a later date.
