Courtroom Fury: Tanner Horner’s final message to the victim’s family triggered anger throughout the courtroom
Tanner Horner was sentenced to death on May 5, over three years after killing 7-year-old Athena Strand
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Tanner Horner; Athena Strand.Credit : Tarrant County Jail; Wise County Sheriff’s Department
It wasn’t long after Athena Strand was killed that Tanner Horner was arrested in connection with the crime.
On Nov. 30, 2022, Strand was reported missing by her stepmother, Elizabeth “Ashley” Strand, who had been cooking dinner when she realized the then-7-year-old wasn’t in her room. According to Ashley’s testimony, she searched for about an hour before calling the police, and an investigation was opened soon after.
A few days later, authorities confronted then-FedEx driver Horner, who made a confession that led authorities to Strand’s naked body in the Trinity River and was arrested soon after. In early April 2026, Horner admitted to killing the young girl when he pled guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping.
On May 5, he received the death sentence. Strand’s uncle, Elijah Strand, then gave an emotional testimony directed at Horner, saying, “You did not just take a life, you destroyed a family.”
“You are nothing, you are a footnote in Athena’s story,” he said.
So, how was Tanner Horner caught? Here’s everything to know about what led investigators to the former FedEx driver after Athena Strand was reported missing.
Investigators’ biggest lead was a box of Barbie dolls at Strand’s home
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During Horner’s sentencing trial, FBI special agent Patrick McGuire said that there was one specific lead that they were chasing amid Strand’s disappearance: a box of Barbie dolls that had been delivered to her home just before she went missing, per CBS News.
Sgt. Job Espinoza, the lead investigator in the Texas Rangers’ search for Strand, also testified during the sentencing trial and shared that on the second day of the search, they shifted their focus to the delivery of the package.
“My main objective was: who delivered it? What did they see?” he said, per CBS News. “More than anything, to me initially, it’s just another set of eyes.”
FedEx’s third-party contractor helped identify Horner as the delivery driver
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As Espinoza and his team began looking into the Barbie dolls, he shared that investigators with the FBI learned the box had been delivered by FedEx through a third-party contractor called Big Topspin, a Dallas-based delivery contractor.
When investigators contacted Big Topspin to get more information on the driver and vehicle, they were able to identify Horner, per CBS News. (According to The New York Times, former Wise County sheriff Lane Akin also said that a tip helped identify Horner.)
Espinoza then interviewed Horner, who was able to provide a detailed description of a supposed older green Astro Van, which was missing a lower panel on the driver’s door and was leaving from her home around the time he supposedly made his delivery, per CBS News.
“As we moved forward in the investigation, there were some key things that stuck out to me,” he said. “The driver, Tanner Horner, had made very detailed statements about a green van. So obviously, we have to act on any information we get.”
According to the outlet, Espinoza said that an alert was sent out across Texas for the supposed van, and that Horner’s information also prompted investigators to look into cell tower data to see which mobile devices were in the area at the time of Strand’s disappearance.
Espinoza further shared that the details prompted him to ask about any surveillance footage from the FedEx van itself. “I’m like ‘Hey, do they have video, maybe we can see a license plate on the video,’ ” he recalled, per CBS News.
Investigators found video footage from inside Horner’s truck
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During the sentencing trial, Espinoza said that he and his team reached out to Velociter, the company in charge of camera software used inside FedEx trucks. Velociter was then able to provide them with two short video clips from inside Horner’s truck, Espinoza said.
Law enforcement was already moving to detain Horner on Dec. 2, 2022, when they were provided the clips. He arrived soon after Horner was detained and spoke to him about what was shown on the video clips he viewed.
“I saw that Athena was alive, and that she was placed in that FedEx van by Mr. Horner,” Espinoza said during trial, adding, “and based on what I was seeing, it was exigent, and I felt that there was a possibility that Athena was still alive, and we needed to bring her home.”
Espinoza shared during trial that the video showed the FedEx driver placing Strand into the van on Nov. 30, 2022. He added that the van Horner was in when he was detained was not the same one that he was in when Strand was abducted. However, Wise County Sheriff’s Office was able to secure the one Horner used on Nov. 30, 2022, after they contacted BigTopspin.
Horner confessed to the killing, but told a fabricated story about what happened
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Investigators were still hoping Strand was alive, but did not locate her after searching the truck Horner was driving when Strand was abducted, as well as the young girl’s family home.
After Espinoza got Horner in an interview room, he ultimately confessed to the crime, though told police he accidentally hit the young girl while backing up in his delivery truck, according to an arrest warrant affidavit reviewed by NBC DFW.
Horner told investigators that he panicked and put the young girl into his van, where she had been talking to him. Horner said that he strangled Strand out of fear she would tell her father about being hit by the truck.
During the April 2026 trial, however, jurors watched footage from the day of Strand’s murder, which ultimately contradicted his account of events. In the surveillance footage, Horner could be seen pulling up to Strand’s house, walking back to his truck with the young girl behind him and the door opening with her standing alongside him, per NBC 5. Just seconds later, Horner lifted Strand into his truck and drove off.
Footage showed Strand kneeling in the back of Horner’s FedEx truck, asking him, “Are you a kidnapper?” per NBC DFW, who noted that Horner then ordered her to sit down and not scream or he would hurt her.
According to the outlet, Horner covered up the camera but the recording still captured audio of the kidnapping and murder, including him asking Strand to take off her shirt, to which she said no and asked for her mother.
The audio continued for more than an hour, and included Strand then crying, screaming and banging, per NBC DFW. (The medical examiner said Strand died from blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation.)
Horner helped lead authorities to her body
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Espinoza shared that when he got Horner in an interview room, his second question for the driver was, “Where’s she at?” per CBS News. Espinoza said Horner’s answer was, “I can show you,” prompting Espinoza to ask a follow-up question, “Is she alive?”
Eventually, Horner cooperated and led authorities to Strand’s body, which was found on a part of the Trinity River known as Bobo’s Crossing, per NBC DFW.
Strand had been naked when she was found, and prosecutors indicated that there was DNA evidence of sexual assault, according to Fox4News.
Horner was then arrested and charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in connection with Strand’s killing. On May 5, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death.
