Tragic Athena Strand, 7, is pictured being driven to her murder by deliveryman

This chilling photograph captures the final moments of a seven year old girl as she was driven to her death by a FedEx delivery driver.

Tanner Horner abducted and murdered Athena Strand following a Christmas parcel delivery to her home. A court heard that Horner, 34, told authorities he accidentally struck Athena with his van before strangling her in a panic, though he had initially denied the killing.

However, Horner admitted to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on Tuesday before his trial could commence, prompting prosecutors to release this devastating image captured on the day of the young girl's death. The black-and-white photograph shows Athena sitting in the van while Horner focuses on the road ahead, near Fort Worth, Texas.

She was subsequently strangled, and her body was discovered two days later approximately seven miles from her home, alongside a rural road. Horner now faces either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Horner seized Athena after completing a Christmas delivery while working for FedEx contractor. He told investigators that he accidentally struck the girl with his truck, "panicked," grabbed her, and bundled her into his vehicle.

Fearing the consequences of confessing to Athena's parents, he admitted to strangling her inside the truck before dumping her body nearby.

However, a newly emerged photograph - captured from footage inside the delivery lorry - appears to have shattered the killer's assertion that he struck the girl by accident before unwittingly driving away with her body.

During opening statements, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton declared: "The only truthful thing that Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her.

"The pattern and web of lines that he put together, it's going to be hard for ya'll to keep up with. It is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie."

"The first thing Tanner Horner says to Athena when he picks her up and puts her in that truck, he leans down and he says: 'Don't scream or I'll hurt you.' He says that twice."

The Texas case has now progressed to the punishment phase, whereby a jury must determine whether he receives the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Addressing the jury, State District Judge George Gallagher stated: "Now your sole duty will be to listen to all of the evidence that is going to be presented to you, because you will be using that evidence to determine the proper punishment to be assessed."

Horner was taken into custody on December 2, 2022, the very same day Strand's body was discovered. He allegedly admitted to officers that he abducted the child during a delivery to her family's home.