A FATHER STANDS FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE MAN WHO TOOK HIS DAUGHTER and his final words left the entire courtroom frozen. 😢⚖️ Jacob Strand didn’t raise his voice or lash out, but when he looked toward the man responsible for his 7-year-old daughter’s death, every word carried unbearable weight. In one devastating moment, he broke down and admitted the guilt that has been haunting him ever since the feeling that he “should have done something,” that he wasn’t there to protect his child the way a father believes he should. It wasn’t anger speaking — it was heartbreak, raw and unfiltered. And then came the line that’s now echoing far beyond that courtroom. 👉 The full story behind that emotional courtroom moment is in the first comment — especially the part where he admits, “I wasn’t there to protect them like I should be”… because that’s where the real heartbreak begins.👇

A FATHER STANDS FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE MAN WHO TOOK HIS DAUGHTER and his final words left the entire courtroom frozen.

Athena Strand’s father faces FedEx driver killer, begs jury to make the ‘right decision’ on death penalty

Athena Strand’s father takes the stand

Athena Strand’s father broke down in tears as he faced his daughter’s killer in court — and said he hopes the jury makes the “right decision” in determining whether the FedEx driver is sentenced to death.

Jacob Strand made the emotional plea Thursday as he left the stand in court, where he claimed his life was ruined by the crippling guilt he was left with after his 7-year-old daughter was kidnapped and strangled by FedEx driver Tanner Horner in 2022.

“It made me feel horrible,” Strand said, according to NBCDFW. “You know, like, I should have done something or been there. I wasn’t there to protect them like I should be, like a father’s role.”

Jacob Strand, father of Athena Strand, testifying during a capital murder trial.
Athena Strand’s father, Jacob (above), broke down in tears as he faced his daughter’s killer in court, stating that he hopes the jury makes the “right decision.”AP
A headshot of Athena Strand with a red bow headband.
Jacob Strand claimed on the stand that his life was ruined by the crippling guilt he was left with after his 7-year-old daughter, Athena, was kidnapped and strangled by FedEx driver Tanner Horner in 2022.Family Handout

Tears began to stream down Strand’s face as he said he initially thought Athena was out playing hide and seek — and was destroyed when he learned she had been found dead, CBS News reported.

“I just kind of held everything in, and it broke me,” he said, adding that he turned to alcohol to numb the pain.

“I couldn’t sleep, and I would only eat like every seven days, and I lost like 50 pounds.”

“I just hope that the jury and the justice system makes the right decision,” he said at the conclusion of the emotional testimony.

Here’s the latest on killer FedEx driver who murdered 7-year-old Athena Strand:

  • Twisted FedEx killer allegedly raped underage girls years before murdering 7-year-old Athena Strand
  • Mom of killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner’s haunting reaction in jailhouse call after she asked about Athena Strand
  • Killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner wrote note to 7-year-old victim Athena Strand’s family: ‘She didn’t deserve it’
  • FedEx driver Tanner Horner made outrageous request to cops after killing 7-year-old Athena Strand
  • Killer FedEx driver blames alter ego ‘Zero’ for 7-year-old Athena Strand’s murder — thought it was a ‘nightmare’
  • Killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner reveals chilling final words to Athena Strand, 7, before savagely murdering her

Thursday was the eighth day of the murder trial for Horner, a former delivery driver who confessed to kidnapping Athena from her rural Texas home, strangling her and dumping her body miles away.

Horner, 34, is awaiting his fate as the jury weighs whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

Surveillance image of 7-year-old Athena Strand inside Tanner Horner's FedEx truck.
The FedEx driver allegedly kidnapped and strangled 7-year-old Athena Strand in 2022.FOX 4 DFW

Athena had been outside when Horner showed up to deliver one of her Christmas gifts and abducted her.

The hulking delivery driver, who was over 200 pounds at the time of the kidnapping, told the court he first tried to break Athena’s neck to kill her.

When that didn’t work, he strangled her with his bare hands instead.

Her naked body was found days later.

It’s not clear if Athena was sexually assaulted, but prosecutors said Horner’s DNA was found “in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.”

Horner’s attorneys are expected to argue that his mental health issues and troubled childhood should spare him from death row.

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