Athena Strand’s mother wore all black as the heartless killer of a 7-year-old child was sentenced to death – one of the rare moments during the disturbing trial that she wasn’t wearing pink, her late daughter’s favorite color.
Maitlyn Gandy wore the somber outfit when Tanner Horner was sentenced to death in a Texas courtroom on Tuesday and cried as the courtroom learned he would later die by lethal injection.
Gandy’s hair was still dyed the pink it has been since her daughter’s brutal November 2022 murder, but the black dress is a stark contrast to the hot pink suits she’s been seen wearing in the gallery at nearly every hearing since Horner was arrested and charged four years ago.
The bubbly girl had a great love for the color pink, and loved to wear the color whenever she could – with pink dresses, bows and other basic accessories throughout her happy life.
Athena loved the color pink so much that her family even buried her in a pink coffin filled with gray fur.
The girl’s family made the color a symbol of her happy life after her murder, and many of the prosecution’s witnesses adorned their clothing with the color when they testified at Horner’s trial – with Gandy himself wearing his usual bright suit when he testified.
Gandy’s black dress on Tuesday appeared deliberately off-putting, however, and paired with her pink hair was a poignant sign of marking the sad end of the saga.
Horner met his end nearly a month after admitting he choked Athena to death in the back of his FedEx truck, which he was driving while delivering Christmas presents to the girl’s home in Paradise.
He said he hit the girl with a truck – then he took her away and killed her in a panic, saying he was going to tell what happened.
Video from the back of her truck shown at trial appeared to tell a different story, however, with Athena seen in Horner’s truck appearing to be in good health before being strangled to death while stripping her of her clothes.
Horner has insisted he did not rape the girl, but DNA evidence – and the audio of the murder case – suggest he may have.
But Athena’s family refused to let Horner’s betrayal overshadow the girl’s life – with her uncle closing the case with a powerful statement that reminded everyone of who he was.
“Athena was more than a headline. She was funny, curious, kind,” said uncle, Elijah Strand. “He had dreams he will never chase. Birthdays he will never celebrate. And a life he will never get because of his actions.”
“No words can truly take away the damage Tanner Horner has caused to us and our family,” he said. “What he took from this world was not just a child – he took a life, a future, and a piece of everyone who loved him. He took a grandchild, a daughter, a niece, a cousin and a friend.”
“He used to call me ‘Uncle Lija,’ because for a long time he couldn’t pronounce the Elija part of my name,” he added. “It was the best thing to see him running towards me shouting ‘Uncle Lijah.’ And that is one of the last memories I have of him. And now I can’t hear that anymore.”
“We are left trying to honor a beautiful little girl, whose life was taken in a senseless and horrific way.”
