Chilling photo shows girl, 7, kneeling behind kidnapper in van moments before murder

A chilling black-and-white photograph released in a Texas courtroom on Tuesday shows a seven-year-old kneeling behind her killer in his FedEx van, moments before he strangled her to death. The image, captured on November 30, 2022, depicts Athena Strand and apparently uninjured, sitting on her knees directly behind driver Tanner Horner as he concentrates on the road. It directly contradicts the 34-year-old’s initial claim that he accidentally struck her with the vehicle and panicked.

Horner, who had just delivered a Christmas gift — a box of “You Can Be Anything” Barbies — to Athena’s rural home in Paradise, near Fort Worth, pleaded guilty to capital murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping as his trial was due to begin. The surprise admission means jurors will now decide only his punishment: death by lethal injection or life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors tore apart Horner’s account during opening statements. Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told the court the photograph proved Athena was “very much alive and very much uninjured” when she was placed in the truck.

Stainton alleged the first words Horner spoke to her were: “Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you,” repeated twice.

Stainton warned jurors they would see video from inside the van and hear audio after the camera was deliberately covered. Stainton said: “You are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child. And when I say it’s horrible, I mean it.”

He added that Athena fought back, leaving Horner’s DNA under her fingernails and “in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.”

The prosecutor described Horner’s story as “lie upon lie upon lie,” insisting there was “no truth” to the claim he hit her with the van.

Horner later led investigators to Athena’s body, dumped beside a country road seven miles from her home. She was found two days after being reported missing.

Athena’s stepmother, Ashley Strand, testified as the photograph was shown. She described how the youngster loved “running wild and free” on their land and had been excited about the festive delivery.

Defence attorney Steven Goble acknowledged the evidence was “overwhelming” and “terrible” but urged the jury to spare Horner’s life.

He pointed to his client’s autism diagnosis (formerly Asperger syndrome), exposure to lead as a child, his mother’s drinking during pregnancy, and other mental health issues. Goble said: “When someone’s brain is what’s injured, you don’t see it,” asking jurors to impose life without parole instead of execution.

The case was moved from rural Wise County to Fort Worth over concerns about a fair trial. Horner also faces separate historic charges of sexually abusing children.

Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, has strongly backed the death penalty, stating: “Every breath he takes is one my daughter doesn’t.” Gandy has vowed to ensure the world remembers that “he is nothing and that she is everything.”

The horrifying details have shocked the court. Stainton, a 25-year veteran prosecutor, told jurors: “Buckle up,” for the evidence ahead.

Horner’s guilty plea brings a measure of accountability more than three years after the crime, but the punishment phase will lay bare the full brutality of Athena’s final moments in the back of that van.

Her family and the community now wait for justice as the jury weighs life or death for the man who stole a little girl’s future while delivering her Christmas present.

Fedex has been approached for comment.