Murder of Athena Strand

On November 30, 2022, seven-year-old Athena Presley Monroe Strand was abducted from her home in Paradise, Texas, shortly after a FedEx driver, Tanner Lynn Horner, delivered a Christmas package containing Barbie dolls to her residence. Horner initially claimed he accidentally struck Athena with his vehicle while backing up and panicked, placing her in his truck. Investigators and prosecutors later challenged this account, presenting evidence suggesting the abduction was intentional. Evidence at trial indicated Athena remained alive and resisted her attacker for a period before Horner strangled her, reportedly within about an hour of the abduction. Athena's stepmother reported her missing the same day, and the investigation led police to Horner, who confessed and directed police to where he had disposed of her body, later found near Boyd, Texas.

An autopsy conducted by Dallas County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jessica Dwyer found injuries to Athena's face, head, neck, chest, and back, and determined the cause of death to be blunt force injuries with smothering and strangulation. The medical examiner stated she found no direct evidence of sexual trauma but could not rule out sexual contact. Investigators noted that the day after the murder, Horner searched online for images of Athena and news about the case.

Horner was charged on December 5, 2022, with aggravated kidnapping and capital murder. He was later charged with additional counts of sexual assault of a minor tied to separate incidents from 2013. A Wise County grand jury indicted Horner in February 2023, and prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty. Horner initially pleaded not guilty in March 2023. His trial venue was later moved to Tarrant County, and after postponements, his trial began on April 7, 2026, when he pleaded guilty to capital murder and kidnapping.

During the sentencing phase, prosecutors presented DNA evidence linking Horner to the crime, dashcam and audio recordings capturing part of the abduction and assault, and testimony from two women who said Horner had sexually assaulted them as teenagers in 2013 and 2014. Strand's parents testified about the impact of her death on their family. The defense argued Horner suffered from autism spectrum disorder, childhood lead exposure, and other psychiatric and developmental issues, and presented testimony about an alleged alternate personality Horner called "Zero." Multiple psychiatric experts testified regarding Horner's mental health, with some disputing the existence of a dissociative identity or a direct causal link between his conditions and the killing.

On May 5, 2026, Judge George Gallagher sentenced Horner to death following a unanimous jury recommendation, after the jury found he posed a continuing threat to society and identified no sufficient mitigating factors. Horner filed a notice of appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on May 12, 2026.

In the aftermath, Athena's father filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Horner, FedEx, and Horner's employer, Big Topspin. Community tributes followed, including school "wear pink" events, a Mattel donation of Barbie dolls to a Fort Worth children's hospital, and passage of "Athena's Alert," a Texas law creating a localized child-abduction alert system.