Texas Jury Sentences Ex-FedEx Driver Tanner Horner to Death for Killing 7-Year-Old Athena Strand

A former FedEx driver who admitted to killing 7-year-old Athena Strand received a death sentence Tuesday from a Texas jury.

Tanner Horner, 34, faced charges of kidnapping and strangling the girl after striking her with his delivery van in 2022. The Tarrant County jury delivered the sentence after 19 days of testimony. Both sides rested their cases Monday and gave closing arguments Tuesday morning.

In 2023, Horner admitted to abducting Strand while delivering a package to her father's home in Paradise, a town of fewer than 500 people located 60 miles northwest of Dallas.

Her body turned up Dec. 2, two days after authorities reported her missing less than 10 miles from the property.

Authorities said Horner was delivering a package of Barbie dolls meant as Strand's Christmas present. The girl had been staying with her father, Jacob Strand, and stepmother, Ashley Strand, in Wise County. She was due to return to Oklahoma with her mother after the holidays.