Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after abducting Strand from her driveway in late 2022
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Tanner-Horner-Athena-Strand-041926-e5d962c4b6384044b0eacae357370a5a.jpg)
Tanner Horner; Athena Strand.Credit : Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty; Wise County Sheriff’s Department
Tanner Horner was heard singing a Christmas song while murdering 7-year-old Athena Strand in late 2022.
Prosecutors played a video from the day of Strand’s abduction and murder on Nov. 30, 2022, in the courtroom on Thursday, April 16, in Fort Worth, Texas. According to ABC-affiliate WFAA, the video, which was captured via the FedEx truck’s surveillance camera, contained audio of the former driver singing “Jingle Bell Rock” as the young girl screamed in pain.
The beginning of the recording showed Horner lifting Strand into the back of the truck and shutting the door, WFAA reported. After he got in the truck, she asked him, “Where are you taking me?” He then covered the camera lens, although the recording still captured the audio.
The beginning of the recording showed Horner lifting Strand into the back of the truck and shutting the door, WFAA reported. After he got in the truck, she asked him, “Where are you taking me?” He then covered the camera lens, although the recording still captured the audio.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Tanner-Horner-TimCurry-Criminal-Justice-Center-041926-1157a5d1e9114b8eb65d981590325bb3.jpg)
Tanner Horner in the courtroom on April 16, 2026 at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth, Texas.Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP
About 30 minutes into the recording, “Jingle Bell Rock” came on the radio and Horner began to sing along, per WFAA. Strand screamed and moaned in pain while he sang. He proceeded to threaten her, saying, “Shut up. If you don’t shut up, I will hurt you worse.”
Prior to the interaction, Horner told Strand to take off her shirt and she asked for her mother. She also asked if he was a kidnapper. The video contained audio of the girl choking, as well as indistinct banging in the truck.
Strand’s parents left the courtroom before the video was played, per WFAA.
On April 7, Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after abducting Strand from her driveway while delivering a Christmas package to the home where she was staying with her father and stepmother in the town of Paradise, Texas.
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.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(561x0:563x2):format(webp)/athena-strand-missing-120222-2-2000-c03341fa494644e3a5e0e9769a515545.jpg)
Athena Strand.Texas EquuSearch Facebook
Video from inside Horner’s FedEx truck the day after the murder showed him attempting to drive through a residential road lined with vehicles while volunteers and law enforcement searched for Strand, CBS News reported.
The video, also shown in court on April 16, showed him complaining 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 News.
“Are you serious?” Horner replied.
“That’s what all this is for,” she responded, per the outlet, with Horner asking, “Are you serious?” again.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(581x0:583x2):format(webp)/new-Tanner-Horner-mugshot-041426-02e3282986e54db0b5c3571cc1baa01e.jpg)
Tanner Horner mugshot.Tarrant County Jail
Horner denied doing anything “weird” to Strand on a jailhouse phone call with his mother that was reviewed in court and shared by Fox affiliate KDFW-TV. His mother responded, “I didn’t think you did, I just know how you get.”
In another exchange played for jurors, Horner’s mother asked, “What did you do? Did she die on her own?” and he replied, “No.”
Horner initially claimed to police that he accidentally struck Strand with his vehicle and then strangled her out of fear, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE.
Horner’s trial is expected to last for weeks, per WFAA.
News
Friend Speaks: A close friend of Lynette Hooker says Brian Hooker should “step up” the search in the Bahamas — but he responded by going out to a special place
(NewsNation) — After Brian Hooker left the Bahamas, where his wife, Lynette, vanished several days ago, friends of the couple have said he needs to “step up” in the search. Hooker’s attorneys said he flew back to the United States after learning his mother was seriously ill. As the search for Lynnette enters its 12th […]
Major Development: Authorities have arrested Brian Hooker in the U.S. linked to the Bahamas disappearance case
Brian Hooker Could Be Arrested In US Over Wife’s Disappearance—Attorney The husband of a woman who vanished at sea after reportedly falling off a boat in the Bahamas could face charges in the United States, a maritime attorney told Newsweek. Brian Hooker, 59, was released from police custody on Monday without charge after being questioned […]
Just In: Brian Hooker has been arrested in the U.S. in connection with the disappearance of his wife in the Bahamas
Brian Hooker Could Be Arrested In US Over Wife’s Disappearance—Attorney The husband of a woman who vanished at sea after reportedly falling off a boat in the Bahamas could face charges in the United States, a maritime attorney told Newsweek. Brian Hooker, 59, was released from police custody on Monday without charge after being questioned […]
Latest: Families of the 8 Shreveport v!ctims speak out in tears, saying the tragedy still feels impossible to believe
Suspect, father of 7 of the kids, fled to Bossier where he was shot dead SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office has now identified the eight children who were shot and killed in a domestic violence incident in Shreveport Sunday morning (April 19). Seven siblings and a cousin were shot and killed. […]
Heartbreaking: The families of the 8 v!ctims in the Shreveport tragedy have shared emotional letters through tears, saying they still cannot believe it happened
Suspect, father of 7 of the kids, fled to Bossier where he was shot dead SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office has now identified the eight children who were shot and killed in a domestic violence incident in Shreveport Sunday morning (April 19). Seven siblings and a cousin were shot and killed. […]
Latest: After returning to the family boat in the Bahamas, the daughter discovered a handwritten note from her missing mother inside a lower-deck drawer
In a Dateline exclusive, Karli Aylesworth visited the boat where her missing mother, Lynette Hooker, lived with her stepfather, Brian Hooker. For the first time since her mother’s disappearance, the daughter of a Michigan woman who went missing in the Bahamas is visiting a boat where her mother lived with her stepfather. In a Dateline […]
End of content
No more pages to load
