Killer Is Sentenced To Lethal Injection In Texas For Killing First-Grader

2026-05-13

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Justice for a joyful little girl who was abducted outside her rural Texas home and murdered by a stranger driving a delivery truck.MaryAnn Martinez, the Daily Mail’s Texas bureau chief, was in the courtroom as a jury sealed the fate of 7-year-old Athena Strand’s killer, Tanner Horner.Athena, a first-grader with an affinity for the outdoors and the color pink, was abused and tortured by Horner, a FedEx driver, before he killed her and callously discarded her tiny frame in a nearby creek on Nov. 30, 2022.A frantic, multi-day search for Athena ens...

Justice for a joyful little girl who was abducted outside her rural Texas home and murdered by a stranger driving a delivery truck.

MaryAnn Martinez, the Daily Mail’s Texas bureau chief, was in the courtroom as a jury sealed the fate of 7-year-old Athena Strand’s killer, Tanner Horner.

Athena, a first-grader with an affinity for the outdoors and the color pink, was abused and tortured by Horner, a FedEx driver, before he killed her and callously discarded her tiny frame in a nearby creek on Nov. 30, 2022.

A frantic, multi-day search for Athena ensued. The child’s death traumatized her rural community.

Horner pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping in April but a jury still had to determine his fate, which in Texas included the possibility of the death penalty. After a five-week trial,

Athena’s family watched as the panel found that Horner should be executed by lethal injection.

On this episode, Martinez discusses the case with host Kayla Brantley and takes us inside the courtroom for the dramatic last moments of the proceeding.

We also learn what is expected to happen next as Horner waits on death row.