SH0CK: FedEx driver returns to the scene of the crime after k!..ll!ng Athena Strand, then says something ch!..ll!..ng; 5 HAUNTING WORDS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN THE MOTIVE FOR THE CRIME, THEY ARE…
Video shows Tanner Horner’s reaction when a woman told him a 7-year-old had been kidnapped after he returned to the scene — a day after prosecutors say he killed her
“Are you serious?” Tanner Horner asked after a woman told him 7-year-old Athena Strand had been kidnapped as he drove past the scene — a day after prosecutors say he killed her.
The moment was captured on surveillance video from inside Horner’s FedEx delivery truck as he attempted to drive through a residential road lined with vehicles while volunteers and law enforcement searched for the missing child, CBS News reported.
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Athena Strand and Tanner Horner.NBC DFW/YouTube
At one point, Horner complained he couldn’t get through before rolling down his window and speaking with a woman nearby.
“Um, you can pull up and try to ask them to get through, but there’s been a kidnapping, so it’s all blocked off … a 7-year-old was taken,” the woman said, according to CBS.
“Are you serious?” Horner replied.
“That’s what all this is for,” she responded, per the outlet, with Horner asking, “Are you serious?” again.
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Athena Strand.Texas EquuSearch/Facebook
On Thursday, April 16, 2026, jurors were shown surveillance footage and audio from inside Horner’s delivery truck, including portions capturing Athena’s final moments before her death, PEOPLE previously reported.
Jurors watched video showing Horner pulling up to the girl’s home and walking back toward his truck with Athena following behind him, before lifting her inside and shutting the door.
They then heard audio from inside the truck in which Athena repeatedly asked, “Are you a kidnapper?” and “Where are you taking me?” as Horner warned her not to scream or he would hurt her.
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Tanner Horner.Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty
At one point, he told her, “You’re really pretty, you know that?” before ordering her to remove her shirt. She refused and asked for her mother.
The audio included crying, screaming and banging, prompting jurors to sob and appear visibly shaken. Some of Athena’s family members left the courtroom during the playback.
Before the footage was shown, as PEOPLE previously reported, Judge George Gallagher warned those in the courtroom that the material would be disturbing.
“If you think you cannot watch it or listen to it, leave now. Now’s your time to get out,” he said.
Athena’s father, Jacob Strand, also took the stand, describing the toll his daughter’s killing has taken on him and his family.
“It made me feel horrible,” Strand testified, per NBC DFW. “You know, like, I should have done something or been there. I wasn’t there to protect them like I should be, like a father’s role.”
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Tanner Horner.Tarrant County Jail
He said he turned to alcohol after her 2022 death, that it ruined his marriage and that he struggled to eat or sleep, at one point losing about 50 pounds.
Strand also said Athena’s sister has required therapy and recently returned after experiencing nightmares about what happened, according to his testimony.
Horner, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this month to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Athena’s death, which occurred on Nov. 30, 2022, while he was delivering a package to her home in Paradise, Texas, PEOPLE previously reported.
Her body was found two days later about 9 miles away, and jurors are now tasked with deciding whether Horner will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.
Horner, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this month to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Athena’s death, which occurred on Nov. 30, 2022, while he was delivering a package to her home in Paradise, Texas, PEOPLE previously reported.
Her body was found two days later about 9 miles away, and jurors are now tasked with deciding whether Horner will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.
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