Athena Strand killer moved to Livingston facility after sentencing

LIVINGSTON (KETK)– After being sentenced to death earlier this week, the man responsible for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand has been transported to a correctional facility in Livingston.

Former FedEx driver Tanner Horner received the death sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier this year to murdering Strand in 2022. Horner was given the sentence by a jury in a Fort Worth courtroom that heard nearly a month of testimony and evidence, including audio from Strand’s final moments before her death.

Horner was arrested in December 2022 and charged with capital murder after Strand’s body was found in Wise County. It was later revealed that Horner had kidnapped Strand from her home while he was delivering a package and subsequently strangled her to death nearly an hour afterward.

Horner will now remain at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston for the foreseeable future until a date is scheduled for his execution.