A FedEx delivery driver who kidnapped a 7-year-old Texas girl in his van four years ago and then strangled her was sentenced to death by a jury on Tuesday.
The driver, Tanner Lynn Horner, took the girl, Athena Strand, on Nov. 30, 2022, from outside her father’s home in Paradise, Texas, about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth, the authorities said.
Mr. Horner, 34, was charged on Dec. 3, 2022, and pleaded guilty on April 7 to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. He entered a plea just before his trial began. The trial still proceeded so jurors could decide between life in prison and the death penalty.
On the day Athena was struck she stepped off her school bus at 4:15 p.m. and her stepmother reported her missing around 6:10 p.m., the authorities said. The search for her included several law enforcement agencies and nearly 200 volunteers.
Her body was found two days later, about six miles from her father’s home, said Melody McDonald Lanier, a spokeswoman for a lawyer representing Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy .
The package that Mr. Horner delivered on the day of the kidnapping was a box of “You can be anything” Barbies, which was a Christmas gift for Athena, Ms. Gandy said in a statement.
Lane Akin, the Wise County sheriff at the time, said that a tip helped to identify Mr. Horner and that investigators knew a FedEx driver had made a delivery to the home around the same time Athena went missing.
When the authorities approached Mr. Horner, he confessed, the sheriff said. Originally, Mr. Horner said he had accidentally hit Athena with his van, panicked and picked her up, the district attorney, James Stainton, said during a court appearance broadcast by the local NBC station in Dallas-Fort Worth.
James J. Dwyer, the acting special agent in charge at the F.B.I. office in Dallas, said that “digital evidence and partnerships with FedEx” had helped identify Mr. Horner. He did not offer specifics about the digital evidence.
In an arrest warrant filed in Wise County, the authorities said video footage of Mr. Horner inside the delivery van with Athena was received from the company that provided cameras for such vans.
During the trial, video of Mr. Horner with Athena in the truck was played for the jury.
The authorities said Mr. Horner did not know the family or the girl.
Jaqueline Ferrara, who worked as a forensic analyst for the Texas Department of Safety, testified that male DNA was found on Athena’s body. Semen and blood were also found on various articles of clothing belonging to Mr. Horner, she said.
Kristen Cossota, a forensic scientist for the Texas Department of Safety, testified that the DNA could have possibly been Mr. Horners’ with “very strong support” that DNA evidence came from him. Ms. Cossota did not definitively say that it was Mr. Horner’s DNA.
Athena’s mother, Ms. Gandy, testified during the trial. Her hair was pink and she wore a pink blazer, Athena’s favorite color, she said.
Ms. Gandy described Athena as a “free,” “wild” and “bright” girl who “wanted to live.” Her daughter often played in the dirt outside while wearing princess dresses.
After getting the call that Athena was missing, Ms. Gandy drove from her home in Oklahoma to Texas.
“It felt like I was dying,” Ms. Gandy said of the drive on that day. “I thought I was having a heart attack.”
Once she arrived, she searched for her daughter. She described being told later that Athena was dead, seeing her body, and picking out clothes for her funeral.
”She’s not just some story. She’s not just some number,” Ms. Gandy said. “She was loved. She is loved, and she is missed.”
Mr. Horner’s mother also testified. She said that Mr. Horner did not have an easy upbringing and that she often used drugs and had multiple arrests, including for prostitution.
A neuroscientist testifying on behalf of the defense discussed MRIs of Mr. Horner’s brain, stating his brain was different in some ways from a “normal” brain.
After the girl’s death, Texas passed what became known as the “Athena Alert” bill into law, allowing a regional Amber Alert to be issued when a child goes missing, even without confirmation of an abduction.
Athena’s father, Jacob Strand, and Ms. Gandy filed a lawsuit against FedEx, Big TopSpin Inc., and Mr. Horner. Big TopSpin Inc. is a contractor for FedEx that hired Mr. Horner, according to reporting from The Dallas Morning News. The lawsuit said both companies failed to adequately check Mr. Horner’s background before hiring him, according to the article.
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
Rylee Kirk reports on breaking news, trending topics and major developing stories for The Times.
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