[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
The FedEx driver who killed Athena Strand apologized to her family in a letter from jail. If you do not recall the disturbing story of what happened to her, brace yourselves…
On November 30, 2022, the 7-year-old got into an argument with her stepmother, Elizabeth Strand, after returning to her Paradise, Texas, home from school. The stepmom later went to the young girl’s room, but she wasn’t there. Elizabeth searched all over but still couldn’t find Athena, so she filed a missing persons report.
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Police thought Athena had just run away following the fight. However, they were wrong. Her naked body was found on December 2 near a river about nine miles from her home. According to the medical examiner, she died from blunt force trauma, smothering, and strangulation.
The investigation soon led them to Tanner Horner. And following his arrest, he confessed to kidnapping Athena from the driveway and killing her. He had been delivering her Christmas present, a box of “You Can Be Anything” Barbie dolls, to the house when he accidentally hit the child with his delivery van while trying to back up. Although Horner claimed she wasn’t seriously injured, he became afraid she would tell her dad about what happened, so he murdered her inside the van. An affidavit revealed he tried to break Athena’s neck before strangling her “with his bare hands.”
During the trial, however, the jury saw an image of Athena riding in the back of his truck on her knees — still alive. Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said during opening statements that Horner hasn’t been telling the truth:
“The only truthful thing that Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her. The pattern and web of lies that he put together, it’s going to be hard for ya’ll to keep up with. It is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie.”
Stainton further claimed that “the first thing” Horner told Athena after kidnapping her was “Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you,” and he said it “twice.” What’s more? He revealed sickening new details to jurors — Horner’s DNA was found under Athena’s fingernails and “in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.”
Horrific…
Horner, who was later charged with three counts of sexual assault of a child for an unrelated case, ended up pleading guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping last week. The sentencing phase of the trial is currently underway. The jury is deciding whether he will be sentenced to death or serve life in prison without parole.
And during Monday’s proceedings, prosecutors read letters that Horner wrote in jail before a suicide attempt months after the murder, including one he addressed to “Athena’s Family.” In it, he apologized for killing their child. It said, per CBS News:
“I want to start by saying how sorry I am about Athena.”
Although Horner said his legal team told him not to apologize until the trial, he “couldn’t hold it in any longer.” He continued:
“I’ve done a terrible thing to your family and I’m sorry. I can’t tell you how many countless nights I’ve stayed awake, unable to sleep. I pray for all of you. So many people were affected by my breakdown. Not just your family but my own as well. You’ll never get to see your baby girl grow up and I’m sorry. Now my son is going to grow up without his father and protector.”
Horner then explained he has Asperger’s syndrome and doesn’t do well with changes that are “unpredictable in nature.” When he started working as a FedEx driver, he received a singular route that didn’t change for a while. However, his employer began “making random changes” to his route “so they could make more money,” and he struggled with it.
(Important to note Asperger’s syndrome is not an excuse. Data suggests there are 37 million people living with Asperger’s syndrome. Every day millions of people with Asperger’s live healthy, productive lives without going on to murder others.)
In fact, he claimed the change sent him into a suicidal episode:
“The only thing that stopped me was thinking of my son growing up without his father.”
Horner said he took a week off from work to get help and was put on medication. When he returned, he informed his employer that he needed a consistent route, but he was ignored. He became a “floater” instead, which meant he received a different route each day. That caused his mental health to worsen. Although Horner wanted to quit, he noted he couldn’t because he needed to provide for his son.
Eventually, Horner thinks his employer “got sick of me constantly telling them I needed consistency” and “sold me off to another company without me having any say in the matter.” He also believes his boss wanted him to quit. Horner shared that he went to Big Topspin and life “started to kind of fall back into place.” However, he continued to experience minor meltdowns because the company “still refused to put me on a consistent route” and was forced to work six days a week due to the holiday season as the delivery load increased. He told the Strand family:
“It was all the wrong place and wrong time. I’m sorry I allowed my mental state to be unstable. I’m sorry I took your little angel away from you. She didn’t deserve it. Y’all didn’t deserve it. My son didn’t deserve to lose his father. My mother didn’t deserve to lose her son. My fiancé didn’t deserve to have her wedding day stripped away from her. The only thing I ask is for forgiveness and for you to remember my son and show him some grace and mercy for he no longer has his father. I love you all and I’m sorry.”
This poor girl is now gone, and both families are destroyed forever because of his awful actions. No amount of sorry will ever make a difference.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Texas Department Of Safety, Wise County Sheriff’s Office]
