“You Are Nothing”: Tanner Horner Sentenced to Death in Athena Strand’s Murder

Tanner Horner has learned his fate. 

The confessed killer of Athena Strand has been sentenced to death, nearly a month after the former FedEx driver pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. 

Horner remained stoic in the Texas courtroom May 5, as seen in multiple livestreams of the jury’s verdict. 

“It’s the order of the court that you, Tanner Lynn Horner, has been judged to be guilty of the offense of capital murder as found by the jury,” Judge George Gallagher said. “Jury having answered, the special issues make it mandatory that your punishment be death. It is, therefore, the order of this court that your punishment be death.” 

The Fort Worth jury deliberated for three hours before returning with their verdict, per People, following weeks of his defense team arguing for a sentence of life in prison without parole. Both sides rested their case May 5.  

Jurors concluded, per the AP, that Horner was likely to commit criminal violence and would continue to be an ongoing threat to society. 

The judge noted that Horner’s sentence will automatically be sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and that he will be appointed a lawyer to represent him on direct appeal. 

Photo: Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images

Horner was also asked if he wants a second attorney to represent him on writ of habeas corpus, a legal process where details about Horner’s sentence can be argued in court (and separate from his formal appeal). 

In response, Horner simply replied, “Yes.”

Across the five-week trial, jurors heard multiple testimonies—including both of Strand’s parents—and heartbreaking details surrounding the 7-year-old’s killing in November 2022. 

One piece of evidence proved especially chilling—audio captured from inside Horner’s delivery truck, with jurors forced to hear recordings of Strand’s abduction and killing. The child’s naked body was found days later in the Trinity River. 

“You will face the wrath of god, but I want you to know that you are nothing,” Strand’s uncle Elijah Strand said during his victim impact statement in court May 5. “You are a footnote in Athena’s story. Her name will forever be remembered. Her name will forever be celebrated. And everyone will forget you.” 

Horner’s mother also testified during the sentencing trial, per CBS News, telling her son through tears, “She was just a baby.”