FedEx Driver Sentenced to Death for Killing 7-Year-Old

A Texas jury handed down a death sentence May 5 for Tanner Horner, the FedEx driver who abducted and killed 7-year-old Athena Strand in November 2022. The sentencing came after a court proceeding that lasted more than two weeks. Horner, 34, had pleaded guilty on April 7, 2026, avoiding trial and allowing a jury to focus solely on punishment.

The Day Everything Changed

Athena was seven years old when Horner arrived at her family’s home in Paradise, Texas, to deliver a Christmas gift. She never came back inside. Her family reported her missing after she vanished from her room. Two days later, Wise County authorities arrested Horner, a contract FedEx driver who had made deliveries to the home around the time Athena disappeared.

Horner’s Admission

In court, prosecutors presented evidence that Horner told Athena ‘Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you’ before killing her. His initial claim-that he struck her with his van and panicked-unraveled under scrutiny. Prosecutors argued this was not accident or impulse but calculated abduction of a child he knew was vulnerable. The evidence was overwhelming. Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told the jury in closing arguments that Horner deserved the death penalty, calling him proof of why parents hug their children tighter and why children are nervous to play outside.

A Family’s Testimony

Athena’s uncle, Elijah Strand, broke down in court after the sentence was read. “There are no words that truly capture the devastation that Tanner Horner caused us and our family,” he said. He recalled the last moments he spent with his niece. “It was the best thing to see her running up to me with her arms open, yelling Uncle Elijah, and it’s one of my last memories I have of her.” The family had waited nearly four years for a resolution that acknowledged the irreversible loss they suffered.

The Sentence

The jury deliberated for approximately two weeks before returning the death penalty. Texas law permitted them to choose between death and life without parole. They found two special circumstances that warranted capital punishment: that the murder occurred during kidnapping, and that the victim was a child. Horner was led into court in a bright orange jumpsuit and leg and arm shackles. By the judge’s order, he remains incarcerated pending execution.

References: FedEx Driver Sentenced to Death in Murder of Texas Child