Maitlyn Gandy, mother of Athena Strand, looks up as she testifies during the capital murder trial of Tanner Horner on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center. Pool photo via Dallas Morning News
A Fort Worth jury Thursday watched a video of the abduction and murder of Athena Strand, the last piece of evidence put on by the Wise County District Attorney’s office before it rested its case against Tanner Horner.
The 34-year-old former delivery driver pleaded guilty to Strand’s murder April 7. The state is seeking the death penalty in the case.
Horner’s attorneys will try to convince the jury to give him the only other option available to them: life in prison without parole. The defense began laying out its case on Wednesday as the Messenger was going to press.
Editor’s note: The article contains graphic content.
The jury watched videos taken from cameras in Horner’s delivery van on Nov. 30, 2022 — the day Strand disappeared — as well as from Nov. 26, Nov. 29 and Dec. 1.
Witnesses in the courtroom said the video did not show Horner backing into Strand, and she was not hurt when he lifts her into the van, contradicting what Horner had originally said when speaking to investigators.
Instead, Strand is seen following Horner to the back of the van, and he lifts her into the back and shuts the door while telling her, “Don’t scream, or I’ll hurt you.”
As he drives away, he asks Strand about her age and about school.
Strand is heard asking several times where he is taking her and what he is doing.
After covering up the camera — which blocks the image but not the audio — Horner told Strand to take off her shirt
At one point, Athena is heard asking, “Why are you doing this?” He replies, “Because you’re pretty — you know that?”
Strand is heard crying and asking if he’s a kidnapper and asks for her mother.
Sounds of violence follow, including a struggle and Strand choking. Later in the video, “Jingle Bell Rock” is playing on the radio in the background while Strand is screaming, and Horner begins singing along to the song.
Nearly an hour after the torture began, you hear the van stop while Strand is screaming and then what sounds like stomping or slamming.
After hearing more banging around in the back, presumably when Horner opens the door to dispose of Strand’s body in the Trinity River near Boyd, he drives away and removes the sticker from the camera. Horner is seen calmly smoking a cigarette as he drives to a gas station and parks at a gas pump.
He leaves and comes back with cleaning supplies. Horner then spends the next several minutes cleaning the floor of the cargo area of the van where the assault presumably took place.
As he’s driving back to the FedEx facility to leave his truck, Horner calls a man who appears to be a supervisor and asks if he can use the same van the next day.
“It smells like barf in here,” Horner said in the call. “I guess I ate something that didn’t agree with me.”
The video ends as Horner parks his van. The last thing he does is reach over and place what appears to be Strand’s clothing in his backpack before exiting the truck.
Prosecutors argued that Horner had planned or practiced for his criminal act in the days leading up to Strand’s death. Videos from both Nov. 26 and Nov. 29 show Horner covering up the forward-facing dash camera while on his delivery route, including about an hour before delivering packages to another residence with young female children on the same road as the Strand home about 24 hours before Athena disappeared.
On the video from Dec. 1, the day after Athena’s abduction and murder, Horner can be seen driving down County Road 3573, where the Strand home is located, while the search for Athena is underway. He can be seen passing numerous law enforcement vehicles as well as private vehicles, presumably from people involved in the search for the child. Some people can be seen on horse back.
He nods at people as he passes them and smokes a cigarette.
At one point as he’s trying to leave the neighborhood, Horner appears to become impatient with not being able to drive down the road due to the amount of traffic, honking several times for people to get out of the way. A woman can be seen coming up to the van and saying, “There’s been a kidnapping,” and Horner responds, “Are you serious?”
Defendant Tanner Horner reacts as he watches Maitlyn Gandy, mother of Strand testify on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center. Pool photo via Dallas Morning News
Earlier in the trial, DNA analysts testified male DNA was detected in swabs from Strand, and that DNA was later linked to Horner’s DNA profile.
Kristen Cossota with the Texas DPS Crime Lab testified last Wednesday about her report interpreting the results of the DNA testing. She said that in Y-STR testing which examines the DNA on the Y, or male, chromosome, Horner could not be excluded as a contributor to DNA profiles found on the swabs. The profile is not expected to occur more frequently than 1 in 5,471 U.S. males, she said.
The jury also heard from Strand’s parents.
Maitlyn Gandy — her hair dyed pink with a jacket to match — clutched a large red bow that belonged to her daughter as she testified about what it was like to find out her daughter was missing and ultimately had been killed. She spoke about the first time seeing her daughter’s body and how she applied makeup to obscure the discoloration of the injuries.
Gandy said she wants people to know her daughter is more than just a name or photo in a news story.
“She is loved, and she is missed, and she was real, and she had a life, and she wanted a life, and no one can take that from her,” Gandy said, turning to look directly at Horner before continuing. “Not a single person can take that from her. And I will be her face and will be her voice and make sure every person in this world knows she was loved and that she wanted to live and we want her in our lives.”
Jacob Strand, father of Athena Strand, testifies during the capital murder trial of Tanner Horner on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth.
Jacob Strand said when he first heard his daughter was missing from his Cottondale home, he thought she might have been playing hide-and-seek, which she was “really good at,” he said.
When asked if he still talked to his daughter, he said he does, at a fruitless pear tree on his property which was her favorite spot.
Responding to a question about how his daughter’s death made him feel, Jacob Strand said, “It made me feel horrible, like I should have done something or been there. I wasn’t there to protect her.”
He testified that he “self-destructed” after his daughter’s death. He turned to alcohol, and his marriage came to an end.
James Becker, vice president of product for Velocitor Solutions, testified about the video footage captured by their software in the camera from the delivery van Horner was driving at the time of Athena’s disappearance. After receiving a request on Dec. 1, 2022, from the FBI for the video footage, he pulled it up and said he saw, “the driver of the FedEx truck and there was a small child in the truck as well.”
Knowing investigators were looking for the missing child, Becker said he felt panic.
“That’s why I was having trouble downloading the actual footage and the urgency of the FBI agent on the phone, for them to be able to see what I was seeing,” Becker said.
Becker said he was later able to pull longer video clips from the van for law enforcement, including the video of the murder.
“I want to thank you, seriously, for what you did in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Patrick Berry said.
Follow updates on the case at wcmess.com/athena.
Eric Love holds up an “Execute Tanner Horner” sign next to Jessica Martin, who holds an “Athena’s Army” sign Wednesday, April 22 outside the Wise County Courthouse. AUSTIN JACKSON/WCMESSENGER
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