Death Penalty for Former FedEx Driver in the Murder of Athena Strand in 2022
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
DALLAS, Texas – On Tuesday, Tanner Horner was sentenced to death for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand. A Tarrant County judge issued the death sentence, which will be carried out by lethal injection. While awaiting this, Horner is not eligible for parole. This verdict comes after nearly three weeks of trial. CASE SUMMARY The murder of Athena Strand occurred in November 2022. At that time, her parents reported her missing, and her body was later found in a creek near their home in Wise County. Tanner Horner, a former FedEx driver, pleaded not guilty during a March 2023 arraignment, despite having confessed to police that he killed the girl. According to a detention document, Horner told police that he accidentally hit her with his delivery vehicle. During the trial, it was revealed that the former package driver coldly admitted to killing the girl. He had been arrested hours before the crime when investigators already had visual evidence of him putting the girl into the truck alive. This contradicted his initial account, which claimed he had backed over her and took her away in a panic. Images shown in court indicated the false location where he allegedly abandoned the body.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
