{"id":254728,"date":"2026-04-17T21:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/254728\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T21:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:15:18","slug":"audio-and-video-reveal-final-moments-of-athena-strands-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/254728\/","title":{"rendered":"Audio and video reveal final moments of Athena Strand\u2019s life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tanner Horner lured Athena Strand into his FedEx truck and initiated a string of lies to conceal his role in her death, according to chilling audio and video evidence<\/a> played Thursday during Horner\u2019s capital murder trial in Tarrant County.<\/p>\n

Horner, 34, who has already pleaded guilty<\/a> to killing Athena, sat with his head bowed as the prosecutors played roughly an hour of audio from inside the FedEx van detailing the 7-year-old\u2019s final moments. The jury will decide whether Horner should receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

Video recorded immediately before Athena\u2019s abduction<\/a> on Nov. 30, 2022, shows Horner on his delivery route near Paradise in Wise County. He drops a package off, returns to the van and drives on.<\/p>\n

The livestream of the trial had already been turned off at this point, and only jurors and others in the courtroom were able to see what followed.<\/p>\n

FedEx vehicles have a dashcam that shows a forward-facing view and a cabin cam that shows the driver and the inside of the van. According to the case\u2019s lead investigator, Texas Ranger Job Espinoza, Horner covered the front-facing camera shortly after 4 p.m. on Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

It was at least the third time that week that Horner had covered the camera lens, including before a Nov. 29 delivery to a family with two young daughters who lived on the same county road as Athena.<\/p>\n

\"Defendant Defendant Tanner Horner returns to the courtroom during his capital murder trial on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder in the November 2022 strangulation killing of 7-year-old Athena Strand. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

Wise County District Attorney James Stainton seemed to suggest that covering the camera indicated Horner planned the crime and was looking for an opportunity to take a child. Judge George Gallagher sustained the defense\u2019s objections to questions asking Espinoza to speculate about what that meant.<\/p>\n

Shortly before 5:30 p.m., Horner can be seen moving things around in the cargo area of the van. He takes a box out of the back and moves it to the passenger seat. He also picked up some other things and threw them in the front, but it wasn\u2019t clear from the video what they were.<\/p>\n

Horner makes one more delivery before arriving at the Strand home about 5:30 p.m., a few minutes after sunset. He picks up a large box from the passenger seat and gets out of the vehicle. After several minutes he can be seen walking past the van. A small girl is walking just a few feet behind him.<\/p>\n

Horner opens the doors at the back of the truck and lifts Athena inside. He walks her through the cargo area and sets her down in the area behind the passenger seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing? Are you a kidnapper?\u201d Athena asks.<\/p>\n

\"Wise Wise County District Attorney James Stainton holds a photo of Athena Strand during the capital murder trial of Tanner Horner on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Shafkat Anowar The Dallas Morning News <\/p>\n

The 7-year-old seems surprised and confused, but doesn\u2019t appear scared at this point. Horner gets in the driver seat and pulls away from the house. Athena moves from the side of the truck and stands up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Horner replies.<\/p>\n

Horner then covers the lens of the cabin camera. No more video can be seen, but the audio continued to work. Horner asks Athena her age and where she goes to school. \u201cIs she nice?\u201d he asks when the little girl tells him the name of her teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re really pretty,\u201d Horner says at one point. \u201cYou know that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Athena asks Horner where he lives, and he says \u201cfar away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The van seems to stop. Athena wants to know what they\u2019re doing, and Horner says they\u2019re going to \u201chang out for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horner orders the girl to take off her shirt. Athena is heard crying and asking Horner again if he\u2019s a kidnapper. She says she wants to go home and wants her mother.<\/p>\n

Choking and other sounds are heard that make it clear Horner is hurting the child.<\/p>\n

Horner starts driving again. Athena is heard screaming in the background as \u201cJingle Bell Rock\u201d blares on the radio. He yells at her, telling her repeatedly to shut up or he will hurt her more.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors have said Horner made multiple attempts to kill the girl as Athena fought back. She died from blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation, according to the medical examiner. He dumped her naked body in the water along the Trinity River<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Horner can be heard coughing loudly, or possibly vomiting, shortly before he removes the cover on the camera lens. He seems calm as he drives and smokes a cigarette. The door between the cabin and the back of the van is closed.<\/p>\n

Horner pulls up at a Love\u2019s Travel Stop and goes inside. A few minutes later he comes out with a big roll of paper towels and a spray bottle of cleaning solution. He walks into the cargo area of the FedEx truck and starts scrubbing the floor.<\/p>\n

After leaving Love\u2019s, Horner calls his supervisor to ask to drive the same truck tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of smells like barf in here,\u201d he says. \u201cI guess I just ate something bad earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

The supervisor thanks Horner for knocking out his route and assures him that he can have the same truck tomorrow. Horner says he\u2019s feeling better and will be at work the next day.<\/p>\n

The final portion of the video shows Horner stashing Athena\u2019s blue jeans and underwear<\/a> in his backpack when he arrives back at the FedEx station.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors rested their case immediately after presenting the video and audio evidence. The trial will resume Wednesday, April 22, with witnesses from the defense.<\/p>\n

Video from Dec. 1, 2022, shows that Horner returned to the area to deliver packages on the day after the murder. As he drives past a search party looking for Athena, Horner honks and yells at them to get out of his way so he can make his deliveries.<\/p>\n

Horner has his window rolled down, and a woman outside tells him that there has been a kidnapping of a 7-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you serious?\u201d Horner says, acting shocked.<\/p>\n

Jurors also heard from Jacob Strand, Athena\u2019s father, on Thursday. He said his daughter loved unicorns, mermaids and singing songs from the Disney movie \u201cFrozen.\u201d She also loved playing outside and getting dirty.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob Jacob Strand, father of Athena Strand, testifies during the capital murder trial of Tanner Horner on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth. Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder in the November 2022 strangulation killing of 7-year-old Athena Strand. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

One of Jacob Strand\u2019s favorite memories of Athena is the time he caught her playing in the water trough with her Barbies and other toys. She was sitting in the water with her dress and cowgirl boots on, he said.<\/p>\n

The last time Jacob Strand saw his daughter alive was on Nov. 30, 2022, when he left to go on a hunting trip. As he was driving away, she ran up to his truck and asked for another hug. \u201cI gave her another hug and told her I love her,\u201d Jacob Strand said.<\/p>\n

The father told the court that he doesn\u2019t believe the apology letter Horner wrote<\/a> in the Wise County Jail right before attempting suicide in May 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope that the jury and the justice system will make the right decision,\u201d Jacob Strand said.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 9:51 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Harriet Ramos<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Harriet Ramos covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tanner Horner lured Athena Strand into his FedEx truck and initiated a string of lies to conceal his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-254728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}