{"id":45546,"date":"2026-04-17T23:55:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=45546"},"modified":"2026-04-17T23:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:55:02","slug":"family-flees-courtroom-as-audio-reveals-athena-strands-final-heartbreaking-4-word-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=45546","title":{"rendered":"Family flees courtroom as audio reveals Athena Strand\u2019s final heartbreaking 4-word question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Jurors were left in tears and family members walked out of a Texas courtroom Thursday as disturbing footage capturing the final moments of 7-year-old Athena Strand\u2019s life was played during her killer\u2019s trial.<\/strong><\/p><div class=\"vvvqa69e4db4c81087\" ><div style=\"width:100%; max-width:1200px; margin:0 auto;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/bolt-casino.com?r=0BFDBF1283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n    <img \n      src=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f8693ebb-2018-480f-a2f7-0096810c07f0.jpg\" \n      alt=\"200% Deposit Bonus + 10% Cashback\" \n      style=\"width:100%; height:auto; display:block; border-radius:8px; cursor:pointer;\"\n    \/>\n  <\/a>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.vvvqa69e4db4c81087 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.vvvqa69e4db4c81087 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.vvvqa69e4db4c81087 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.vvvqa69e4db4c81087 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.vvvqa69e4db4c81087 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<p>Tanner Horner, 34, is currently awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty on to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on April 7, right before his trial was set to begin.<\/p>\n<p>Athena Strand\u00a0was taken from her father\u2019s home in Texas, where Horner had delivered a package containing Barbie dolls intended as a Christmas gift. Investigators allege Horner strangled the 7-year-old inside his truck, before disposing of her body in a nearby area.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-recording-of-athena-strands-final-moments\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recording of Athena Strands final moments<\/h2>\n<p>Emotional scenes unfolded as the court was shown a disturbing video recorded of what happened in the delivery truck. Before the footage began, Judge George Gallagher issued a warning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think you cannot watch it or listen to it, leave now. Now\u2019s your time to get out,\u201d he said according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/16\/us-news\/jurors-wail-family-leave-courtroom-as-audio-of-athena-strands-last-moments-and-murder-is-played-are-you-a-kidnapper\/?utm_campaign=nypost_lifestyle&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">New York Post.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Livestreams of the trial were also cut before the video was shown. According to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, the footage dates back to November 2022 \u2013 the Athena was killed.<\/p>\n<p>Horner appears to pull up to Athena\u2019s home and abduct her from the driveway, as he lifts her inside his truck, before getting behind the wheel and driving away. Inside the truck, Athena can be heard repeatedly asking him, \u201cAre you a kidnapper?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-her-family-had-to-leave-the-courtroom\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Her family had to leave the courtroom<\/h2>\n<p>Rather than answering, Horner attempts to make conversation, asking her about school and her teachers. At one point, he tells her, \u201cYou\u2019re really pretty. You know that?\u201d as the truck appears to come to a stop.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-387722143\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-1de20d9d4c5d120f38397231a3e367ae\" class=\"newsner-1de20d9d4c5d120f38397231a3e367ae newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIs this your house?\u201d Athena asks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. I don\u2019t live around here,\u201d Horner replies, adding that he lives \u201cfar away\u201d when she asks where.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are we doing?\u201d the 7-year-old then asks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHang out for a minute,\u201d he responds.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-tanner-horner-could-face-the-death-penalty\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tanner Horner could face the death penalty<\/h2>\n<p>Shortly after, Horner asks Athena to take her shirt off. She refuses, saying \u201cno,\u201d and begins asking for her mother. Moments later, her cries turn into screams, with loud banging noises echoing from inside the truck.<\/p>\n<p>By the time the video ended, jurors were reportedly crying in the courtroom. Members of Athena\u2019s family left in waves as the footage played.<\/p>\n<p>He now faces either life in prison or the death penalty, with a jury set to determine his sentence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jurors were left in tears and family members walked out of a Texas courtroom Thursday as disturbing footage capturing the final moments of 7-year-old Athena Strand\u2019s life was played during her killer\u2019s trial. Tanner Horner, 34, is currently awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty on to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on April 7, right&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19,17,11,20,24,15,12,25,22,18,16,21,14,23,13],"class_list":["post-45546","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"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Family flees courtroom as audio reveals Athena Strand\u2019s final heartbreaking 4-word question - VM News<\/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:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=45546\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family flees courtroom as audio reveals Athena Strand\u2019s final heartbreaking 4-word question - VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jurors were left in tears and family members walked out of a Texas courtroom Thursday as disturbing footage capturing the final moments of 7-year-old Athena Strand\u2019s life was played during her killer\u2019s trial. 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