Athena Strand’s father hopes jury makes ‘right decision’ in Tanner Horner trial
Tanner Horner lured Athena Strand into his FedEx truck and initiated a string of lies to conceal his role in her death, according to chilling audio and video evidence played Thursday during Horner’s capital murder trial in Tarrant County.
Horner, 34, who has already pleaded guilty to killing Athena, sat with his head bowed as the prosecutors played roughly an hour of audio from inside the FedEx van detailing the 7-year-old’s final moments. The jury will decide whether Horner should receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Video recorded immediately before Athena’s abduction on Nov. 30, 2022, shows Horner on his delivery route near Paradise in Wise County. He drops a package off, returns to the van and drives on.
The livestream of the trial had already been turned off at this point, and only jurors and others in the courtroom were able to see what followed.
FedEx vehicles have a dashcam that shows a forward-facing view and a cabin cam that shows the driver and the inside of the van. According to the case’s lead investigator, Texas Ranger Job Espinoza, Horner covered the front-facing camera shortly after 4 p.m. on Nov. 30.
It was at least the third time that week that Horner had covered the camera lens, including before a Nov. 29 delivery to a family with two young daughters who lived on the same county road as Athena.
Wise County District Attorney James Stainton seemed to suggest that covering the camera indicated Horner planned the crime and was looking for an opportunity to take a child. Judge George Gallagher sustained the defense’s objections to questions asking Espinoza to speculate about what that meant.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m., Horner can be seen moving things around in the cargo area of the van. He takes a box out of the back and moves it to the passenger seat. He also picked up some other things and threw them in the front, but it wasn’t clear from the video what they were.
Horner makes one more delivery before arriving at the Strand home about 5:30 p.m., a few minutes after sunset. He picks up a large box from the passenger seat and gets out of the vehicle. After several minutes he can be seen walking past the van. A small girl is walking just a few feet behind him.
Horner opens the doors at the back of the truck and lifts Athena inside. He walks her through the cargo area and sets her down in the area behind the passenger seat.
“What are you doing? Are you a kidnapper?” Athena asks.
The 7-year-old seems surprised and confused, but doesn’t appear scared at this point. Horner gets in the driver seat and pulls away from the house. Athena moves from the side of the truck and stands up.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“It doesn’t matter,” Horner replies.
Horner then covers the lens of the cabin camera. No more video can be seen, but the audio continued to work. Horner asks Athena her age and where she goes to school. “Is she nice?” he asks when the little girl tells him the name of her teacher.
“You’re really pretty,” Horner says at one point. “You know that?”
Athena asks Horner where he lives, and he says “far away.”
The van seems to stop. Athena wants to know what they’re doing, and Horner says they’re going to “hang out for a minute.”
Horner orders the girl to take off her shirt. Athena is heard crying and asking Horner again if he’s a kidnapper. She says she wants to go home and wants her mother.
Choking and other sounds are heard that make it clear Horner is hurting the child.
Horner starts driving again. Athena is heard screaming in the background as “Jingle Bell Rock” blares on the radio. He yells at her, telling her repeatedly to shut up or he will hurt her more.
Prosecutors have said Horner made multiple attempts to kill the girl as Athena fought back. She died from blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation, according to the medical examiner. He dumped her naked body in the water along the Trinity River.
Horner can be heard coughing loudly, or possibly vomiting, shortly before he removes the cover on the camera lens. He seems calm as he drives and smokes a cigarette. The door between the cabin and the back of the van is closed.
Horner pulls up at a Love’s Travel Stop and goes inside. A few minutes later he comes out with a big roll of paper towels and a spray bottle of cleaning solution. He walks into the cargo area of the FedEx truck and starts scrubbing the floor.
After leaving Love’s, Horner calls his supervisor to ask to drive the same truck tomorrow.
“It kind of smells like barf in here,” he says. “I guess I just ate something bad earlier.”
The supervisor thanks Horner for knocking out his route and assures him that he can have the same truck tomorrow. Horner says he’s feeling better and will be at work the next day.
The final portion of the video shows Horner stashing Athena’s blue jeans and underwear in his backpack when he arrives back at the FedEx station.
Prosecutors rested their case immediately after presenting the video and audio evidence. The trial will resume Wednesday, April 22, with witnesses from the defense.
Video from Dec. 1, 2022, shows that Horner returned to the area to deliver packages on the day after the murder. As he drives past a search party looking for Athena, Horner honks and yells at them to get out of his way so he can make his deliveries.
Horner has his window rolled down, and a woman outside tells him that there has been a kidnapping of a 7-year-old.
“Are you serious?” Horner says, acting shocked.
Jurors also heard from Jacob Strand, Athena’s father, on Thursday. He said his daughter loved unicorns, mermaids and singing songs from the Disney movie “Frozen.” She also loved playing outside and getting dirty.
One of Jacob Strand’s favorite memories of Athena is the time he caught her playing in the water trough with her Barbies and other toys. She was sitting in the water with her dress and cowgirl boots on, he said.
The last time Jacob Strand saw his daughter alive was on Nov. 30, 2022, when he left to go on a hunting trip. As he was driving away, she ran up to his truck and asked for another hug. “I gave her another hug and told her I love her,” Jacob Strand said.
The father told the court that he doesn’t believe the apology letter Horner wrote in the Wise County Jail right before attempting suicide in May 2023.
“I just hope that the jury and the justice system will make the right decision,” Jacob Strand said.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 9:51 PM.
