Courtroom image shows 7-year-old Athena Strand in delivery van moments before murder by FedEx driver

A photo of 7-year-old Athena Strand taken shortly before her death was shown in court this week as the FedEx driver accused of abducting her from her Texas home while delivering a Christmas present pleaded guilty.

The image was presented on Tuesday in Fort Worth during court proceedings against Tanner Horner, a 34-year-old delivery driver who admitted to the November 2022 murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping. The guilty plea was unexpected, as Horner had not been expected to admit responsibility ahead of trial, a report by the New York Post noted.

With the guilty plea, the jury will now determine whether Horner will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. Judge George Gallagher told the jury, “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.”

Prosecutors showed the jury a black-and-white security image captured inside the delivery vehicle, showing Strand in the back of the truck on her knees on the day of the kidnapping. The footage, taken from a camera inside the vehicle, showed Horner driving while the child was behind him. 

Horner admitted to taking the girl after accidentally backing into her outside her father’s home in Paradise, Texas. Authorities said she was not seriously injured in the incident, but Horner decided to kill her out of fear she would report to her father what had happened.

“She was very much alive and uninjured when he put her in the truck,” noted Wise County District Attorney James Stainton in court. “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.”

Horner reportedly told the police he tried to break the girl’s neck before strangling her and disposing of her body in the Trinity River. Police were able to identify and locate Horner after he completed the delivery, and he ultimately led authorities to Strand’s body two days after she was reported missing.