{"id":2243,"date":"2026-04-10T01:58:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T01:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetwistzone.com\/?p=2243"},"modified":"2026-04-10T01:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T01:58:15","slug":"heartbreaking-final-image-shows-7-year-old-girl-inside-fedex-truck-before-she-was-murdered-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetwistzone.com\/?p=2243","title":{"rendered":"Heartbreaking final image shows 7-year-old girl inside FedEx truck before she was murdered"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"post-31743\" class=\"entry content-bg single-entry post-31743 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-uncategorized tag-chronic-diseases tag-fitness tag-health-tips tag-healthcare-technology tag-healthy-lifestyle tag-healthy-living tag-medical-advice tag-medical-awareness tag-medical-research tag-mental-health tag-nutrition tag-patient-care tag-preventive-care tag-public-health tag-wellness\">\n<div class=\"entry-content-wrap\">\n<div class=\"entry-content single-content\">\n<p><strong>A chilling image shown in court has revealed the final moments of seven-year-old Athena Strand before she was killed, offering jurors a disturbing look into the case.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\">\n<div id=\"news-saga.com_responsive_1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The black-and-white photo, taken from a camera inside a delivery van, shows Athena alive behind the driver\u2019s seat. In the image, she is staring straight ahead as the man, a FedEx driver accused of abducting her, drives. Prosecutors say the photo directly contradicts the suspect\u2019s earlier claims about what happened.<\/p>\n<p>Tanner Horner, 34, pleaded guilty on April 7th to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, just as his trial was set to begin. Jurors were shown the image as part of the opening phase of the case, before being tasked with determining his sentence, which could result in life in prison. According to prosecutors, the photo was captured on November 30, 2022, the same day Athena disappeared from her father\u2019s home in Texas.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\">\n<div id=\"news-saga.com_responsive_2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-athena-strand\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Athena Strand<\/h2>\n<p>Authorities say Horner had been dropping off a package before kidnapping the child. An arrest warrant states that Horner admitted to grabbing her and putting her in his van, claiming he panicked after accidentally backing into her outside the home. Prosecutors, however, argue that Athena was not seriously injured and that what happened next was a deliberate decision.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-ac8ecfe43d8d66ab965cf28f3c51a922\" class=\"newsner-ac8ecfe43d8d66ab965cf28f3c51a922 newsner-incide_content_once\">\n<div id=\"newsner-1867501946\" class=\"newsner-incide_content_once\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Wise County District Attorney James Stainton told jurors: \u201cShe was very much alive and uninjured when he put her in the truck,<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-7\">\n<div id=\"news-saga.com_responsive_3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe first thing he said to her was, \u2018Don\u2019t scream or I\u2019ll hurt you.\u2019 That\u2019s the first thing out of his mouth. He made good on it,\u201d according to\u00a0VT.<\/p>\n<p>The court also heard that Horner was seen calmly driving, and even whistling, in the footage, while Athena appeared visibly distressed, something prosecutors say undermines his version of a chaotic encounter.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-tanner-horner-pleaded-guilty\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tanner Horner pleaded guilty<\/h2>\n<p>Judge George Gallagher instructed the jury: \u201cNow your sole duty will be to listen to all of the evidence that is going to be presented to you because you will be using that evidence to determine the proper punishment to be assessed,\u201d according to VT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A chilling image shown in court has revealed the final moments of seven-year-old Athena Strand before she was killed, offering jurors a disturbing look into the case. The black-and-white photo, &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Heartbreaking final image shows 7-year-old girl inside FedEx truck before she was murdered - thetwistzone.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thetwistzone.com\/?p=2243\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heartbreaking final image shows 7-year-old girl inside FedEx truck before she was murdered - thetwistzone.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A chilling image shown in court has revealed the final moments of seven-year-old Athena Strand before she was killed, offering jurors a disturbing look into the case. 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