The former FedEx driver who kidnapped and killed a little girl has been sentenced to death.
Tanner Horner abducted and murdered 7-year-old Athena Strand in late 2022 while he was making a delivery to her home in Paradise, Texas.
Horner admitted to killing Athena Strand and pleaded guilty to capital murder charges.
A haunting photo of little Athena shows some of the last moments of her life in the FedEx truck with Horner after the abduction.
“We have Horner’s DNA in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl,” prosecutors said.
A Tarrant County jury on Tuesday sentenced Horner to die by lethal injection.
Athena Strand’s uncle, Elijah Strand, shared an impact statement in court on Tuesday.
“[Athena] had dreams she will never get to chase, she’ll have birthdays that she will never celebrate, a life she will never get to live, because of his actions,” Elijah Strand said according to CBS News.
“You did not just take a life, you destroyed a family. You took a little girl who trusted the world and repaid that innocence with violence. You chose to cause pain that will last generations. You say you found God, but what you did to Athena stands in direct opposition of everything you claim to believe,” Strand said.
Elijah Strand told Horner he will be judged by God.
“You will face the wrath of God,” he said. “I want you to know you are a footnote in Athena’s story. Her name will forever be remembered. Her name will be forever celebrated, and everyone will forget you.”
CBS News reported:
A Tarrant County jury sentenced Tanner Horner to death in the 2022 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand on Tuesday.
Horner pleaded guilty to the crime just moments before his trial began last month. The judge ordered that the trial transition into the sentencing phase, in which the jury had been hearing emotional testimony, watching and listening to graphic video and audio of Strand’s last moments as prosecutors made their case for the death penalty.
Among heart-wrenching testimony, the jury heard testimony from both of Strand’s parents.
After prosecutors wrapped their case, the defense presented its case in an effort to keep Horner from being executed. They called numerous expert witnesses to testify about Horner’s mental health and medical history. Horner’s mother and grandmother also took to the stand to speak on his childhood.
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