predecessor fedex driver Sentenced to death on Tuesday, May 5, after pleading guilty to murdering seven-year-old child athena strandhe took her from their home in Texas while delivering Christmas gifts. Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided to punish Tanner Horner after hearing days of testimony and evidence, including audio of Strand’s final moments in a delivery van.
Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to murder last month. He killed Strand in 2022, and her body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise. fort worth. She died from blunt force trauma and strangulation.
When Athena Strand’s chilling audio upsets jurors
Jurors in a Tarrant County courtroom had previously been visibly distraught after hearing graphic audio of Strand’s final moments inside Tanner Horner’s FedEx truck. Tarrant County District Judge Ruben Gonzalez ordered the court cameras removed before the recording could be played because of their graphic nature.
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The reporter stayed inside. The family left the courtroom and prosecutors immediately shelved the case.
Jurors sobbed as they listened to more than an hour of video and audio excerpts documenting the little girl’s tragic final moments, from her being lured into Horner’s car to the brutal attack, local news outlet NBC DFW reported.
As the recording was played on April 16, Judge George Gallagher warned courtroom observers, “If you don’t think you can watch or listen to it, leave now. It’s time for you to leave.”
Strand’s parents left the room before the audio played. This reportedly left jurors shaking and crying. According to Fox 4, Athena’s mother, Maetrin Gandy, apologized to the “innocent people” who had to listen to the recording in its entirety.
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“No one in this room, other than Tanner Horner, and certainly not Athena, asked what was in the video,” she said.
Jurors and observers reacted to certain moments, including Strand’s first question to Horner: “What are you doing?” and “Are you the kidnapper?”
At one point, Horner told Strand, “You’re really beautiful. You know that?”
Horner was heard telling Strand, who began crying and took off her shirt. He threatened to hurt her if she screamed. Strand repeatedly refused Horner and asked to go home to her mother.
In the subsequent audio, jingle bells can be heard playing in the background as Horner tells the screaming child to “shut up” or he will hurt her more, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The audio captures the horrific sounds of the attack, including banging, screaming, crying and choking. Jurors reached for tissues and sniffed in the silence between audio plays.
On December 2, she was found naked in the Trinity River.
