Texas Jury Sentences Tanner Horner to Death for Athena Strand Murder

A Texas jury sentenced former FedEx driver Tanner Horner to death on Tuesday for the kidnapping and capital murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand.

Horner, 34, abducted the girl from the driveway of her father's home in Paradise, a rural Wise County community northwest of Fort Worth, on November 30, 2022, while delivering a package of Barbie dolls intended as her Christmas gift. He pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on April 7, hours before the punishment phase of his trial was set to begin in Tarrant County, where the case was moved due to publicity. The jury, evenly split by gender, deliberated for nearly three hours before deciding on execution by lethal injection over life without parole. Horner showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read, and he will be transferred to the Allan B. Polunsky Unit death row facility in Livingston. No execution date has been set, and appeals are expected.

Prosecutors presented video and audio recordings from inside Horner's delivery truck capturing Strand's final moments. The girl asked if he was a kidnapper, questioned where they were going and pleaded for her mother. Horner told her to remove her shirt and shushed...