The Athena Strand Case – Current True Crime
By: Nitzaliah Festinger

This past month, on April 7th, Tanner Lynn Horner pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand. He was immediately taken into custody, and now the jury must decide whether to give him life in prison without parole, or the death penalty.

Back in late November of 2022, Tanner Horner was working for FedEx, and delivered a package to Athena Strand’s house. Afterwards, he lured Athena into his truck where he forced her into the backseat threatening, “don’t scream or I’ll hurt you.” He went on to assault her, and murder her, leaving her body only 9 miles away from her home.

While there are speculations, Tanner’s motive remains unknown. Throughout his court case he has gone through many mental evaluations and has been diagnosed with many conditions, however they do not really explain his actions. He was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, PTSD, depression,fetal alcohol exposure, high lead exposure, and low testosterone. Psychiatrists say these conditions wouldn’t function as a premise to declare the murder as an act of insanity, as they would not necessarily cause someone to do something like this. But, they also highlight that put together, these mental conditions cause someone to be very unstable. So while they may not be a motivating source, having this many conditions of these sorts can certainly encourage ill behavior such as this.

In the end, this case is pretty straight forward, and there is endless evidence, thankfully, allowing for Tanner Horner to receive the punishment he deserves. It is always sad to see cases like this, when a child is involved. Hopefully Athena’s parents are able to recover someday.

Sources:
https://www.fox4news.com/news/tanner-horner-trial-day-15
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/live-blog-jury-hears-from-experts-character-witnesses-in-fourth-week-of-tanner-horner-trial/4017384/
https://www.biography.com/crime/a70965748/who-is-tanner-horner-athena-strand-murder-case
https://people.com/jurors-sob-athena-strand-tanner-horner-footage-11952022
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXxj6e6N2LG/