FORT WORTH, Texas — The mother of Athena Strand, the 7-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed in Wise County in November, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against FedEx, Big Topspin and the driver accused of the girl’s murder, according to a news release.
Tanner Horner, the 31-year-old FedEx contract driver indicted on charges of kidnapping and murdering Athena, is named in the lawsuit along with his employers.
Horner was delivering a Christmas gift of Barbies for Athena to her father’s North Texas home on Nov. 30 when he kidnapped the child and put her in the back of his FedEx truck, according to the Wise County Sheriff’s Office. Horner told investigators that he had backed into Athena with the truck and even though she wasn’t seriously injured, he took her and killed her because he was afraid she would tell her father about the accident, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Horner told investigators that he tried unsuccessfully to break the girl’s neck and then strangled her with his hands. He dumped her body on a Trinity River bank and later told investigators where to find her, authorities said.
Officials and members of the community searched for Athena for two days before a tip led law enforcement to investigate Horner and find security video recorded inside his van that showed him with the girl.
The lawsuit filed by Athena’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, accuses FedEx and Big Topspin — a Dallas-based company which contracted with FedEx for deliveries and hired Horner — of failing to properly investigate Horner’s criminal background, mental history and prior employment and failing to properly train and supervise him.
It also says the two companies failed to implement and enforce safety policies and procedures. The suit accuses FedEx of negligence in contracting with Big Topspin by failing to supervise the company and to investigate its hiring practices.
FedEx Ground is one of many independent operating companies in the FedEx Corp., which includes FedEx Express, FedEx Freight and FedEx Office. In a statement in December, the company said, “FedEx Ground contracts with independent businesses that provide package pickup and delivery services using their own employees, vehicles and equipment. The employees of these service provider companies are subject to criminal history background checks as part of the driver eligibility process.”
Officials with Big Topspin could not immediately be reached for comment.
Horner lived in Fort Worth before his arrest. He does not appear to have a previous criminal record in Tarrant or Wise counties, but in addition to charges of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Athena’s case, he now faces three unrelated counts of sexual assault of a child in Tarrant County. Few details of those allegations have been released, but the charges stem from incidents that occurred in 2013 and were investigated by Fort Worth police.
Horner remains in the Wise County Jail with bond set at $1.5 million.
Gandy joined the suit previously filed by Athena’s father, Jacob Strand, in Wise County district court. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and damages of more than $1 million with the amount to be determined by jurors.
“This lawsuit is about Athena Strand — a vibrant young girl who deserves to have her memory live on for the good she brought to the world,” the lawsuit says. “It is about a life that was taken senselessly — a child who could have been any of ours. It is about a loss that could have and should have been prevented.”
