A Texas jury sentenced a former FedEx driver to death for kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old girl after delivering what would have been her Christmas gift.
In a surprising move, Tanner Lynn Horner pleaded guilty on April 7 to the 2022 murder of Athena Strand at the start of his trial, sending the proceedings into the penalty phase. Prosecutors asked the jury to give the death penalty, citing evidence including chilling, hour-long audio of the attack that moved some jurors to tears.
Prosecuting attorney James Stainton said Horner was delivering Barbies to Athena's home in Paradise, a town of fewer than 500 people about 60 miles outside Dallas, when he abducted her in late November 2022. Stainton said Horner covered the camera in his FedEx truck before attacking Athena and then repeatedly lied to police about what happened and where her body was.
In his closing arguments on May 5, Stainton said the case was among the "worst of the worst," and the kind of situation the state reserves the death penalty for.
Defense attorneys, meanwhile, called expert witnesses along with Horner's family and former teachers in hopes of persuading the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The witnesses testified about Horner's turbulent childhood, his autism diagnosis and his exposure to toxic amounts of lead.
