Jurors are deciding whether to sentence Horner to life in prison without parole or to death for murdering Athena Strand

Tanner Horner; Athena Strand.Credit : Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty; Wise County Sheriff’s Department

After killing 7-year-old Athena Strand, FedEx driver Tanner Horner reached out to his pastor — prompting a meeting in which the pastor said he tried to help him understand the “severity” of what had happened.

Athena was playing in the driveway of her father and stepmother’s home in rural Paradise, Texas, on Nov. 30, 2022 when she vanished. Two days later, authorities found her body in a river about nine miles from her home. Horner was arrested in December 2022 and charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. As PEOPLE previously reported, on April 7, Horner pleaded guilty to both charges.

Now jurors are weighing whether to sentence him to life in prison without parole or to death.

The lead pastor at the church Horner once attended, identified only as Gary, testified on Monday that Horner contacted him following the killing and asked to meet, according to NBC DFW and the Fort Worth Star Telegram

“As a pastor, we don’t always get to do the easy things,” Gary said. “We do what we’re called to do. So I met with him, and I just wanted to make sure he was okay and wanted to make sure he understood, you know, really what had happened.”

Tanner Horner during the first day of his capital murder trial on April 7, 2026 in Fort Worth, TX.Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty

Gary said he prayed with Horner and told him his life was “never going to be the same,” adding that he wanted him to understand the severity of his actions, NBC DFW and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

On cross-examination, Gary testified that Horner never told him what he had done to Athena — and that he never asked, per NBC DFW.

“All I knew at that time was what had been out,” Gary said. “That is, he was driving for, I think, FedEx and had hit Athena, panicked, and then did what he did. That’s all I knew.”

When asked by prosecutors if he now understood that account was not accurate, Gary replied, “Yes, sir,” NBC DFW reported.

Gary also testified that Horner asked him to help obtain a specific Bible after his arrest, which he tried to deliver, according to NBC DFW.

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Jurors Sob as Athena Strand Asks Killer Heartbreaking Question from the Back of His FedEx Truck

Athena Strand Talked to Kidnapper About Her School and Teacher. Then She Realized Something Was Wrong

Disturbing End to a Little Girl’s Life

During the first part of the sentencing phase, prosecutors showed jurors surveillance footage of Horner lifting Athena up and placing her in his truck, NBC DFW and the Star-Telegram reported.

In surveillance footage taken from inside the truck, Athena could be seen and heard asking Horner, “Are you a kidnapper?”

Horner then covered the camera inside the truck, NBC DFW reports. But audio of what went on inside was still being recorded.

Horner asked Athena how old she was, and about her school.

NBC DFW/YouTube

The conversation took a sickening turn when he said, “You’re really pretty, you know that?”

After the truck stopped, Horner ordered Athena to take off her shirt. She could be heard saying “no,” and telling him she wanted her mother, NBCDFW reports.

Jurors then heard sounds of banging and choking — and Athena screaming and crying, the Star-Telegram reports.

Some jurors were crying when they heard what was happening to the little girl, NBC DFW reports. Her parents left before the video began.

Athena, who stayed calm during her abduction and had the wherewithal to question her abductor, fought back when Horner was attacking her, prosecutors said, according to theStar-Telegramand NBC DFW.

The medical examiner said she died from blunt force trauma, smothering and strangulation.