A capital murder trial is scheduled for 2025 for a man accused of murdering seven-year-old Athena Strand

The murder trial of a FedEx driver accused of killing 7-year-old Athena Strand is scheduled to begin next year in Tarrant County.

Tanner Horner pleaded not guilty to the murder of Athena, whose body was found two days after she disappeared while playing outside her Wise County home in late 2022. The 33-year-old was charged with one count each of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Strand’s killing. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Pretrial hearings are scheduled for January and jury selection will begin Feb. 3, Tarrant County court records show. The trial is scheduled to begin on March 17th. An attorney for Horner did not respond to a phone call or email The Dallas Morning News I’m looking for a comment.

Horner has been in the Wise County Jail since his arrest on December 2, 2022 in connection with Athena’s death. A Wise County judge granted a request to move the trial to Tarrant County because the case was drawing widespread attention.

Athena went missing on November 30, 2022, from her father’s home in Paradise, about 30 miles northwest of Fort Worth. Her body was found days later about 10 miles away.

Horner told authorities he accidentally hit Strand while delivering a package to her home, but she was not seriously injured. He said he panicked, threw her in the van and strangled her because he was afraid she would tell her father.

Athena’s death shocked and angered the community in Wise County, where people attached pink balloons to mailboxes, road signs and power lines in honor of her favorite color. This also led to the creation of the Athena Alert, a regional alert for missing children who do not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert.

Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, described her daughter as “simply the brightest, happiest soul you could ever meet” and said Athena wanted to be a “Viking princess” when she grew up.

Her parents also sued FedEx and the Dallas-based contractor that hired Horner as a driver, accusing them of failing to prevent dangerous people from traveling on their routes. A trial is scheduled for July 2025 in Dallas County.

In the days after her death, delivery drivers reported receiving rude hand gestures, customers calling them names and frightened children running away. FedEx, UPS and Amazon drivers responded by creating a viral TikTok video with the caption, “Your babies are safe on my route.”