According to the arrest warrant, the FedEx driver who hit a 7-year-old girl with his van while delivering a package in Texas confessed to strangling and killing the child. In the early morning hours of December 2, Athena Strand’s body was found.
Last week, 31-year-old Tanner Horner was arrested after being linked to Athena’s disappearance and death. As a result, he is being held on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.
According to a warrant obtained by the Associated Press, Horner claimed to police that he panicked and accidentally backed into the girl while delivering her on November 30. According to the warrant, Horner said he attempted to break the girl’s neck in his van and then strangled her when that failed.
Athena’s mom, Marilyn Gandy addressed the public on Thursday morning
On Thursday morning, Athena’s mom, Marilyn Gandy, broke her silence for the first time since her daughter, a seventh-grader in Texas, died on Tuesday. She informed reporters that her daughter was taken from her father’s house in Paradise, Texas after a contract FedEx courier delivered a package including a Christmas present for the youngster.
Gandy announced this while eying the exposed Barbie dolls within the opening box. When Athena was young, she was denied the chance to develop into an adult who could have achieved her goals, as Gandy put it. This gift was ordered in pure love and innocence, but it will never reach her.
This week, some districts around the state encouraged kids and faculty to wear pink in Athena’s honor. Gandy addressed the public on Thursday morning to express her gratitude for their concern and concern in the wake of Athena’s disappearance.
A wonderful little girl
She was a wonderful little girl who enjoyed singing, dancing, and caring for animals of all kinds, including dogs, cats, horses, lizards, and chinchillas, as Gandy recalled. And she had many first-grade pals who were still reeling from her awful murder.
Gandy added that she hopes improved candidate screening and hiring methods are implemented “so that monsters in delivery uniforms won’t show up on our children’s doorsteps.”
During the press conference, Gandy’s lawyer Benson Varghese stated that he would conduct his “thorough investigation” into FedEx and the contractor that had hired the suspect. We will find everyone who had any hand in this catastrophe, whether directly or indirectly.
The family’s attorney has put out a call for anyone who knew the suspect or who may have worked for the suspect’s workplace to contact his office. Additionally, Gandy encouraged parents to give their kids more bear hugs. She vowed that Athena’s sacrifice would not be in vain. So that no other family needs to go through what she has, I will spend the rest of my life fighting for her.
source: news10.com