Athena Strand's father testifies in Tanner Horner's murder trial sentencing

[0:00] You're a lot more soft-spoken than Athena's mom, do you agree? [0:07] Yes. [0:08] Okay. [0:11] We've talked a lot about the defendant, Hannah Horner. [0:15] Do you want to spend a little time this morning talking about your daughter being a Australian? [0:19] Yes. [0:24] I'm going to have Pat Berry publish a picture from State's Exhibit 287. [0:29] Do you recognize this picture? [0:39] I do. [0:39] Your daughter? [0:42] Yes. [0:43] Can you tell me what day that picture was taken? [0:49] First day of school. [0:53] What grade was she in? [0:54] First grade. [1:03] Athena, you had a little bit of a girly sigh, but did she have any issues being dirty or playing outside? [1:11] Not at all. [1:12] I'm going to ask you to tell the jury a little bit about one of your favorite memories and favorite pictures that you have of Athena with the horse drop. [1:26] Can you tell them about that? [1:28] Yes. [1:29] It was springtime, so the water was still a bit chilly. [1:35] And I walked outside and she was filling up the water trough and brought out a bunch of her Barbies and toys and filled up the water trough with them. [1:45] And I was sitting in it with her dress and cowgirl boots. [1:50] Did you actually end up taking a picture of Athena? [1:56] I did. [1:57] She was shivering, but having fun. [2:00] When you took that picture, was she in or outside of that water trough? [2:06] Outside of it, gathering more toys. [2:09] Soaping wet? [2:09] Yes. [2:13] What did you and Athena like to do together? [2:17] Mostly outside. [2:19] We'd go camping, hiking, the lake. [2:29] Athena was seven. [2:31] So what was she into at the time? [2:36] As every little girl was, frozen. [2:39] And unicorns and mermaids and getting dirty. [2:45] Did you like to sing the Frozen songs? [2:50] 24-7. [2:51] You mentioned Barbies. [2:57] Your Honor, May I ask her? [2:58] Yes. [2:58] I'm showing you what has already been admitted as, I think the one that you recognize these. [3:15] I do. [3:16] Was this Athena's Christmas gift? [3:23] Yes. [3:24] Saying that you'll walk through your door and approach these surgery. [3:32] Sure. [4:32] These are the, you can be anything Barbies. [4:39] Athena did not get that opportunity. [4:40] She went missing on November 30th in 2022. [4:46] Can we talk about that day? [4:48] Yes. [4:48] How was that day for you when it started? [4:55] It was a good day. [4:57] Went to work and came back a little bit after they got home from school. [5:05] Did you see Athena when she got home from school? [5:11] Yes. [5:13] What were y'all doing? [5:15] Just hanging out for a little while. [5:18] I wanted to be with the kids before I went out on my hunting trip with my dad. [5:22] Do you recall about what time you went on your hunting trip? [5:28] It was just before, a little bit before dark, I think. [5:34] When you were leaving, did you say bye to Athena? [5:45] Yes. [5:46] Can you tell the jury about that? [5:49] I told all the kids, send Athena bye and gave her a hug. [5:53] And then after I was, or as I was leaving, I was backing up. [6:00] She ran up to the truck because she wanted to give me another hug. [6:03] And I told her not to run up on me while I'm backing up in the truck. [6:10] And yeah, gave her another hug and told her I love her. [6:13] That was your final notice with Athena. [6:19] Yes. [6:20] At some point, were you notified that she went missing? [6:28] Yes. [6:29] And what did you do? [6:31] I was, of course, a little nervous, but I thought maybe she was just playing hide-and-seek [6:41] or something because she was really good at that. [6:47] You told me a story about her hiding in a closet somewhere. [6:53] What was she hiding? [6:54] Yes. [6:55] We were all playing hide-and-seek and she hid in the linen closet with everything in front [7:01] of her. [7:02] And we were searching for like 20 minutes. [7:04] When you first got no advice, you thought she was hiding? [7:10] Yes. [7:11] Did you participate in searching for Athena? [7:17] Yes. [7:18] Can you tell us about that? [7:20] I searched each day whenever they let me and I thought maybe I'd be a little bit better [7:31] at it because I've been on that property since I was eight years old and I know the woods [7:37] like the back of my hand. [7:39] You didn't find Athena on the property, did you? [7:46] No. [7:49] When were you told that Athena's body was repaired? [7:53] Second in the Cottondale Church in the room. [8:02] That was just kind of like the middle ground for everybody to meet up and rehydrate and [8:12] eat. [8:13] They were taking care of everybody that was a part of the search and they let the family [8:18] stay there. [8:20] How was that for you? [8:27] It was nerve-wracking and hard. [8:34] Still had hope. [8:40] You mentioned that you've been on the land since you were eight years old? [8:45] Yes. [8:46] Can you tell us a little bit about your home and the land that you live on? [8:50] We moved there back in 2000 when I was eight and it's on 10 acres and now me and my brother [9:02] both live on it. [9:05] He lives down the hill from me. [9:10] Who all lived with you and your part of the property? [9:16] It was me, Ashley, Athena, Alice and Yursa at the time. [9:31] Y-R-S-A. [9:35] How old is Yursa? [9:36] She's five now. [9:40] Fourteen. [9:41] And Athena would have been up and down? [9:50] Yes. [9:50] Do you still have a place at your home that you talk to Athena? [10:00] Yes. [10:01] Can you tell the jury about that? [10:03] There's a fruitless pear tree that Alice and Athena would always climb. [10:11] That was just kind of like their spot where they hung out and they would also gather toys [10:17] from their room and hang in that tree like ornaments. [10:21] And how it affected you? [10:35] Can you tell the jury a little bit about that? [10:38] Athena was taken from your home, your property. [10:45] Since you were eight years old, you weren't there to heal? [10:54] It made me feel horrible, like, you know, like I should have done something or been there. [11:08] I wasn't there to protect them, like I should be like a father's role. [11:14] That created you a lot of guilt? [11:22] Yes. [11:22] How did you handle your trauma and your pain? [11:31] How did it affect your ability to eat and sleep and normal day-to-day activities? [12:24] I couldn't sleep and I would only eat, like, every seven days. [12:32] I lost, like, 50 pounds. [12:34] We talked earlier about Athena's siblings. [12:44] We had your son. [12:45] We had her stepsister Alice, right? [12:49] And then she also has a sister Ryland, her mom made with a daughter. [12:56] A little bit about being an Alice. [13:00] What was their relationship like? [13:03] They were just best friends. [13:06] They loved that they were sisters, but not real sisters, they would say. [13:11] Yeah, so they were just best friends. [13:19] Yes. [13:20] For therapy? [13:29] Yes. [13:30] How's it going now? [13:36] She recently went back to therapy because she's been having nightmares. [13:42] About what? [13:48] Everything that she's having to hear about and what happened to her sister. [13:52] Then wrote a letter to the family and the law enforcement. [14:07] Do you believe that letter? [14:08] I don't know. [14:09] What do you miss most about Athena? [14:15] Just her laugh and her spirit. [14:22] She loved everybody. [14:24] Anything that you want this jury to understand about the loss in this process? [14:43] I just hope that the jury and the justice system will make the right decision. [14:59] Cross-examination. [15:01] No, Your Honor. [15:02] Mr. Landy, we have no, I mean, Mr. Strand, we have no questions for you. [15:06] We are terribly sorry for your loss. [15:09] Thank you. [15:09] Thank you.