Chilling new photo of Athena Strand, 7, moments before her death revealed as killer FedEx driver makes shocking plea

A chilling new photo shows 7-year-old Athena Strand moments before she
was strangled and dumped into a river by a twisted FedEx driver who
allegedly abducted her from her Texas home while delivering her
Christmas present. 

The disturbing image of the terrified youngster in the back of the
delivery van was revealed in a Fort Worth courtroom Tuesday morning
after 34-year-old Tanner Horner unexpectedly pleaded guilty to capital
murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping for the November
2022 slaying. 

The shocking plea came as his murder trial was set to kick off. Jurors
will now decide if the killer FedEx driver will be sentenced to death or
life in prison without parole. 

“Now your sole duty will be to listen to all of the evidence that is
going to be presented to you because you will be using that evidence to
determine the proper punishment to be assessed,” Judge George Gallagher
told the jury. 

Prosecutors revealed the eerie black-and-white security image showing
Athena alive and on her knees behind the driver’s seat of the delivery
truck on the day of the deadly Nov. 30, 2022, kidnapping. 

The snap, taken from a camera inside the van, showed Horner calmly
driving and whistling as the petrified child stared straight ahead — a
detail that prosecutors argued debunks the frantic account he gave
police. 

Horner said he had grabbed the young girl and tossed her into his
delivery van in a moment of panic after accidentally backing into her
outside her father’s home in Paradise, Texas, according to an arrest
warrant. 

Athena was not seriously injured, but Horner allegedly decided to kill
her out of fear that she would tell her father about the accident. 

“She was very much alive and uninjured when he put her in the truck,”
Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told jurors at the Tim
Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. 

“The first thing he said to her was, ‘Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you.’
That’s the first thing out of his mouth. He made good on it.” 

He told police he tried unsuccessfully to break her neck before
strangling her with his bare hands in the FedEx truck and dumping her
body in the Trinity River, roughly 10 miles from her house, the warrant
said. 

Police tracked down Horner after they discovered he had delivered a
package — a set of “You Can Be Anything” Barbie dolls intended as a
Christmas gift for Athena — to the house shortly before the girl’s
disappearance, her devastated family revealed. 

The killer FedEx worker led police to Athena’s body two days after her
stepmother reported her missing. 

Prosecutors reportedly will play jurors horrifying audio of the moment
Horner — who allegedly covered the in-cab camera — strangled the
67-pound child inside his delivery truck. 

“You’re going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,”
Stainton said, adding that Athena “fought with the strength of 100 men.”

“It’s horrible. One thing you can’t unhear is the level of fight in a
7-year-old girl when she’s facing certain death. This is the level of
cold-heartedness that you’re going to see.” 

Tropical FireAnt
23 hours ago

It is Texas, so one way or another, he doesn't really stand much of a
chance. Either the State removes him or the prisoners remove him. What I
appreciate is that he is fully aware of the consequences he now must
face. He will feel as much fear as the fear he made his victim endure. 

Katie Did
20 hours ago

Oh. probably more fear. they will let it last a good while before they
finish with him. Still won't be justice enough for her parents. 

https://nypost.com/2026/04/07/us-news/chilling-new-photo-of-athena-grand-
7-moments-before-her-death-revealed-as-killer-fedex-driver-makes-shocking
-guilty-plea/