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LIVE | Tanner Horner Trial: Killing of Athena Strand
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April 10, 2026
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5:23:33Now PlayingThe punishment phase in the trial of Tanner Horner will continue on Friday.
Horner, a former delivery driver, took 7-year-old Athena Strand into his van and strangled her while delivering a package to her home on Nov. 30, 2022.
On the first day of the trial, Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. In the punishment phase, the jury will decide if Horner will receive the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
On Thursday, jurors watched more body camera video of investigators questioning Horner about what happened to Athena. The 7-year-old's nude body was found not far from her home. Speaking as his alter ego named Zero, Horner said he dumped the clothes along the highway because he thought it was funny.
Later in the day, the jury was shown photos of where Horner was living, where Athena's clothes were eventually discovered.
The jury was also shown video of an interview with Horner where he asked the investigator to let him out of jail for a month so that he could spend Christmas with his family. He promised to tell the investigators everything if they agreed.
Horner was charged with capital murder for the death of 7-year-old Athena Strand outside her family’s Wise County home on Nov. 30, 2022.
A contract delivery driver working for FedEx at the time, Horner was delivering what was meant to be a Christmas present for the young girl.
Horner told investigators he accidentally hit Athena with his van while delivering a package to her home. She reportedly survived, but Horner told authorities he panicked and kidnapped her, later strangling her to death.
Athena was reported missing, and eventually an Amber Alert was issued, leading to 72 hours of searching. She was found dead in Boyd, Texas, not far from her family's home.
After Athena Strand's case, Texas Legislators passed a new bill that created a version of an Amber Alert known as the ‘Athena Alert.’
The new law allows authorities to issue an Amber Alert for a missing child that doesn’t have to meet all of the initial criteria.
Under the Athena Alert law, an Amber Alert can still go out even though authorities haven’t confirmed a missing child was kidnapped.
The alert would be able to be sent out to a 100-mile area around the disappearance and adjacent counties.
DPS emphasizes that this is not a new type of alert. All alert messages will still be referenced as an Amber Alert.
FOX 4 News is a FOX-owned station serving Dallas-Fort Worth and all of North Texas.
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