NEED TO KNOW
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Jurors broke down in tears when they heard some of the last words Athena Strand ever uttered before she was killed in Nov. 2022
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Tanner Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to abducting and killing the 7-year-old while delivering a package to her house
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Now jurors are deciding whether to sentence him to death or life in prison
On what was perhaps the most difficult day of the sentencing portion of Tanner Horner’s trial, jurors broke down upon hearing Athena Strand utter some of her last words before — and during — her brutal murder.
As PEOPLE previously reported, on Tues., April 7, Tanner Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after abducting the 7-year-old on Nov. 30, 2022, from her driveway while delivering a Christmas package to the home where she was staying with her mother and stepfather in the rural town of Paradise, Texas.
Strand’s body was found two days after her killing, about 9 miles away from her home in Boyd, Texas.
Now jurors are weighing whether to sentence Horner to death or to life in prison without parole.
Credit: Wise County Sheriff’s Department
On Thursday, April 16, before jurors were shown the disturbing footage, Judge George Gallagher warned, “If you think you cannot watch it or listen to it, leave now. Now’s your time to get out,” NBC DFW, Fox4 News and WFAA reported.
Jurors and everyone remaining in the courtroom then saw surveillance footage of Horner pulling up to Athena’s house, walking back to his truck with the little girl behind him, and the door opening with her standing next to him, the outlets report.
Seconds later, he lifted her into the truck and drove off.
Credit: Texas EquuSearch/Facebook; AP/Shutterstock
Jurors broke down when they saw footage of the little girl kneeling in the back of Horner’s FedEx truck, before asking, “Are you a kidnapper?” NBC DFW reports.
She could also be heard asking, “Where are you taking me?” Fox 4 reports.
Horner ordered her to sit down and not to scream or else he would hurt her, NBC DFW reports.
At this point, he covered up the camera. But it was still recording audio of the kidnapping and murder.
After asking her about school, he told her, “You’re really pretty, you know that?”
Horner stopped the truck then told her to “hang out for a minute,” NBC DFW reports.
Jurors then heard him ordering her to take off her shirt as she said no and asked for her mother.
Jurors began crying when they heard her screaming and sobbing and then could hear banging coming from inside the truck, NBC DFW reports.
Some of her family members left the courtroom when the footage was being shown, NBC DFW reports.
Horner claimed he struck Athena by accident with his truck and strangled her when he panicked, NBC News reported.
During opening arguments in the trial, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton called Horner’s claim “an absolute lie,” NBC News reports.
Read the original article on People
