Tanner Horner Trial Day 7: Athena Strand's mom testifies; killer's DNA detected on sexual assault swabs

FORT WORTH, Texas - It was an emotional day of testimony Wednesday for the death penalty trial of Tanner Horner. The mother of Athena Strand took the stand to talk about how her daughter's 2022 murder has affected her family.

Horner pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. He admitted to kidnapping the 7-year-old while delivering a package to her home on Nov. 30, 2022, and later strangling her.

FOX 4 will have gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial on FOX LOCAL.

Live Updates

3:30 p.m. Done for the day

Testimony for the day ended. The trial is expected to resume on Thursday at 9 a.m.

2:50 p.m. Athena Strand's mother

Maitlyn Gandy, Athena's mother, was dressed in pink (Athena's favorite color) as she took the stand to testify about her last moments with her daughter. She had dropped her off at her father's house for a visit.

"Do you remember the last thing you said to Athena?" the prosecutor asked.

"I told her that I loved her and that I would see her on Friday. We had a quick drop-off because her daddy was going to take them to the Christmas lights," she recalled.

Gandy talked about some of her favorite things, including movie and popcorn nights with her mom and being outdoors with her dad.

"Athena loved everything. She loved life," she said. 

After learning about her daughter's disappearance, Gandy said she immediately drove back to North Texas from her home in Oklahoma.

"It felt like I was dying. I couldn't breathe, but I knew I had to keep going. I almost tapped on the brakes because I thought I was having a heart attack. But I just told myself that if I kept going, it would be okay, and I would find her," she said.

She broke down when talking about how she later broke the news of Athena's death to Athena's 3-year-old sister.

"I didn't know how to tell her, and I didn't think I was strong enough to tell her. So I lied to her for a long time. I would tell her that she was just staying with her daddy for a little bit longer. And when she asked to FaceTime or to call her, I would tell her that she was at school or she was sleeping," Gandy said. "Until about a year ago, she didn't know the whole truth."

Prosecutors asked Gandy about the fact that she has made it a point to be at every single one of the court hearings.

"There were handprint bruises around my daughter's neck, and because she no longer has a voice, and I want people to know that she's not just some story, she's not just some number. She's not just some picture you see in a headline. She was loved. She is loved. And she is missed. And she was real. And she had a life, and she wanted to live. And no one can take that from her. Not a single person can take that from her. And I will be her face, and it will be her voice. And I will make sure that every person in this world knows that she was. And we want her in our lives," she said.

Gandy said she was given the opportunity to watch the video of what happened to her daughter but could only watch about a minute or two of it. She apologized to all the innocent people who had to or will have to watch it.

"Not anyone in this room besides Tanner Horner asked for what's on that video, and Athena definitely did not," she said.

Horner's defense did not ask her any questions.

"I am very sorry for your loss," said Steven Goble, Horner's defense attorney.

1:45 p.m. DNA evidence

Kristen Cossota, a forensic analyst with the Texas DPS Crime Lab, testified about comparing DNA profile samples from Horner with those found on Athena. She said the results showed Horner's sperm cell DNA could not be excluded from the swabs in Athena's sexual assault kit.

12 p.m. Lunch break

The trial went on break until 1:15 p.m. for lunch and to give the next witness time to arrive. 

10:50 a.m. Delivery truck video

Velociter Solutions Vice President James Becker took the stand to testify about the dash camera in Horner's FedEx van. His company's software tracks and records video inside company vehicles.

He testified that he ran into some technical issues with the video after being contacted by investigators on Dec. 1, the day after Athena disappeared. However, he was able to pull up part of the video from inside Horner's FedEx truck.

"What did you see when you pulled up the video for that particular time?" prosecutors asked.

"It was a driver of a FedEx delivery truck. There was a small child in the truck as well," Becker said.

Sensing the urgency of the investigation, Becker said he used his cellphone to take a screen recording of what he saw and sent it to Texas Ranger Job Espinoza.

In the following days, Becker continued working to download the video and vehicle location data for investigators. He provided the FBI agents with information about the places the vehicle stopped on the day of Athena's disappearance, including a gas station, a bridge with what he thought was a boat ramp, and on the side of the road.

10:30 a.m. Recess

Jurors were sent back to their waiting room because a witness was running late. It's not yet clear when the trial will resume.

9:30 a.m. DNA testimony

The trial on Wednesday morning started out with testimony from four forensic scientists from the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab providing testimony about their work with the DNA evidence collected in this case. Their findings revealed the high probability of Horner's DNA on Athena's body.

Tanner Horner Trial Day 6 Recap

Following a day of graphic and emotional testimony, jurors are expected to hear further details regarding forensic evidence collected from both the victim and the defendant.

On Tuesday, Jacqueline Ferrara, a former forensic analyst with the Texas Department of Public Safety, testified about DNA recovered during the investigation. Ferrara told the court that male DNA was detected on swabs from the child’s sexual assault kit, though she did not provide specific matches during that portion of her testimony.

Analysts also confirmed the presence of blood under the girl’s fingernails and male DNA on her clothing. However, Ferrara noted the limitations of forensic timing, admitting that the exact age of a stain on the clothing could not be determined.

"It is an estimate. It is not an exact, precise calculation," Ferrara said of the DNA quantification process. "But it is a very close, rough estimate of how much total human DNA is present in that sample and how much male DNA is present as well."

The proceedings took an even more somber turn Tuesday when two women took the stand to testify about alleged prior assaults by Horner. Both women alleged that Horner raped them when they were 16 years old, and he was an adult.

According to testimony, the women did not come forward to law enforcement until after Horner was arrested for Strand’s murder. One of the women is the accuser in two active sexual assault of a child cases currently pending against Horner in Tarrant County.

Horner, a former contract delivery driver, is accused of kidnapping the 7-year-old from her father’s driveway in Paradise, Texas, in November 2022. Investigators say he confessed to hitting the girl with his van and then strangling her to death to prevent her from telling her father about the accident.

Tanner Horner Trial Week 1 Recap

The first week of the punishment phase was dominated by hours of police body camera and interrogation footage. On Thursday, jurors watched video of investigators questioning Horner about the location of the girl's body. Horner, speaking as his alter ego, said he dumped the child's clothes along the highway because he "thought it was funny."

Horner previously told police he did not kill Strand, instead blaming an alter ego he called "Zero." A sergeant with the Texas Rangers testified that he obtained more information about the crime by questioning "Zero" directly. The sergeant noted that Horner would roll his eyes back before switching personalities, displaying a marked change in his physical demeanor.

The jury was also shown photos of Horner’s residence and the locations where the clothing was recovered. In another interview shown to the court, Horner asked investigators to release him from jail for one month so he could spend Christmas with his family, promising to "tell everything" if they agreed.

• Day 1 - Tanner Horner pleads guilty
• Day 2 - Tanner Horner discusses alter ego ‘Zero’
• Day 3 - Tanner Horner interrogation shown to jury
• Day 4 - Investigators share details about FedEx ‘abduction van’
• Day 5 - Phone calls with family members, ME testifies

Athena Strand’s Death

The backstory:

Horner was charged with capital murder for the death of 7-year-old Athena Strand outside her family’s Wise County home on Nov. 30, 2022.

A contract delivery driver working for FedEx at the time, Horner was delivering what was meant to be a Christmas present for the young girl.

Horner told investigators he accidentally hit Athena with his van while delivering a package to her home. She reportedly survived, but Horner told authorities he panicked and kidnapped her, later strangling her to death.

Athena was reported missing, and eventually an Amber Alert was issued, leading to 72 hours of searching. She was found dead in Boyd, Texas, not far from her family's home.

Athena Alert

The Impact:

After Athena Strand's case, Texas Legislators passed a new bill that created a version of an Amber Alert known as the ‘Athena Alert.’

The new law allows authorities to issue an Amber Alert for a missing child that doesn’t have to meet all of the initial criteria.

Under the Athena Alert law, an Amber Alert can still go out even though authorities haven’t confirmed a missing child was kidnapped.

The alert would be able to be sent out to a 100-mile area around the disappearance and adjacent counties.

DPS emphasizes that this is not a new type of alert. All alert messages will still be referenced as an Amber Alert.

Fort WorthCrime and Public SafetyAthena StrandWise County