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Jacob Strand, father of Athena Strand, the 7-year-old girl who was abducted and strangled by a FedEx driver outside Dallas in November, has filed a million-dollar lawsuit against the delivery company and the suspect, Tanner Horner.
Strand disappeared from her father’s home in Wise County on November 30, her body was recovered two days later. Horner, 31, told investigators he accidentally hit Strand with her truck, “panicked” and eventually strangled her to death.
In the new lawsuit, Jacob Strand also names the FedEx-hired contractor who employed Horner, Big Topspin.
One section of the lawsuit alleges that FedEx put “dangerous individuals in a position of trust” even though Horner was not a direct employee of the packaging giant. Another section accuses FedEx of having “significant control” of the people who come to the homes of its customers.
Jacob Strand, father of Athena Strand, the 7-year-old girl who was kidnapped and strangled to death by a FedEx driver outside Dallas in November, has filed a million-dollar lawsuit against the delivery company.
Jacob Strand argues that neither FedEx nor Big Topspin conducted a proper background check on the suspect. He has no known criminal record.
Big Topspin serves the area where Strand was last seen, the van the suspect was driving is owned by FedEx and the suspect was authorized to wear the company’s uniform, the lawsuit says.
A statement about Strand’s employment from FedEx read: “Employees of these service provider companies are subject to criminal background checks as part of the driver eligibility process.”
The press release continued: “As is common throughout the industry and considered standard employment practice, the background check process is managed by a third party.”
Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, told investigators that Athena Strand was not seriously injured after he struck her as she was reversing, but panicked and pulled her into his truck. She said that she was talking to him and told him her name.
The girl’s body was found just six miles from where she was taken
The family of the murdered girl is seeking more than $1 million in damages. In a brief statement, FedEx said they were in the lawsuit, adding: “Our thoughts remain with the family of Athena Strand in the wake of this tragedy.”
In addition to the money, Jacob Strand wants the lawsuit to be decided in a jury trial in Wise County District Court.
Horner faces charges of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. He is being held on $1.5 million bail.
Athena Strand’s funeral was held on December 9.
The lawsuit mentions other criminal cases involving FedEx drivers, including the case of a New York-based driver who killed a woman and then burned her home to the ground.
One section reads: ‘FedEx has continued its normal business operations, although it is clear that its current efforts, if any, to ensure that dangerous individuals are not placed in a position of trust by wearing FedEx uniforms, driving FedEx-branded vehicles and sending them to the doors of the homes of almost everyone in the United States is woefully inadequate to avoid endangering the public.’
Strand’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, hired a private legal team to investigate the circumstances of her daughter’s death. She has previously called on delivery employees to hold themselves to high standards, according to the Dallas morning news.
Horner, 31, confessed to police that he kidnapped and murdered 7-year-old Athena Strand on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities are now seeking the death penalty in her case.
Horner previously told investigators that Strand was not seriously injured after he struck her as she was reversing, but panicked and put her in his truck. She said she was talking to him and told him her name, according to an affidavit.
But Horner said he didn’t want her to tell her father what happened, so he first tried to break the girl’s neck and when that didn’t work, he strangled her with his hands in the back of the truck, the warrant says. . The warrant said that Horner led investigators to the place where he had left Athena’s body.
The affidavit also revealed that Horner’s FedEx truck was equipped with a video camera. Video feeds showed Horner loading a girl who resembled Athena into the truck.
Horner could be seen talking to a girl inside the truck in the video. It is unclear if he could be seen attacking her in the footage.
The affidavit describes in gruesome detail how Horner murdered the seven-year-old boy in cold blood.
Maitlyn Gandy, the mother of Athena Strand, recounted how 31-year-old Tanner Lynn Horner was delivering a Christmas present for her daughter when she allegedly kidnapped and murdered her.
“Defendant stated that when he tried to snap Athen’s neck it didn’t work, so he strangled her with his bare hands in the back of the FedEx truck.”
“During the course of the interview, Defendant re-stated that he strangled Athena because she was going to tell her father that she had been struck by the FedEx truck Defendant was driving.”
At a press conference last week, Maitlyn Gandy recounted how Horner was delivering a You Can Be Anything Barbie to Strand’s father-and-stepmother’s home in Paradise, Texas, last Wednesday when he allegedly snatched the girl and killed her.
“This package is the first time I’ve seen it,” Gandy said of the now-open Walmart box, explaining that the Barbie dolls were to be a Christmas present for his daughter.
“Athena was robbed of the chance to grow to be all she wanted to be, and this gift, commanded out of innocence and love, is one she will never receive.”
Texas authorities said Horner’s case is scheduled to be turned over to the district attorney next week.
In the meantime, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office will continue to follow up on the tips it receives from the public so they can build an airtight case against you.
“Because of the age of the child and because it was a kidnapping, we are going to seek the death penalty,” Sheriff Lane Atkin told WFAA.
Gandy promised that he will continue to seek justice for his daughter.
“I will spend the rest of my life fighting for her so that no other family will suffer such unbearable pain and grief,” he said.
“A monster tried to take Athena’s voice, but we are her voice,” Gandy told reporters on Thursday, adding: “Selection and hiring policies must be put in place so that monsters wearing delivery uniforms don’t appear in footsteps of our children”.