Athena Strand’s grieving mother has revealed her daughter had a bright pink coffin as she was laid to rest a week after being killed by a FedEx driver.
26-year-old Maitlyn Gandy said her daughter was remembered at a private funeral service but she will be cremated and return home in an urn.
“I’m not anywhere close to letting my baby go,” she expressed.
Athena’s funeral comes a day after Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, was accused of kidnapping and killing the girl.
Horner told police that he accidentally hit the girl with his van while dropping off a package at her home before strangling her, according to the arrest warrant.
He said that the child was not injured but he panicked when she said she would tell her father about the accident.
According to the affidavit, Horner tried to break her neck to silence her.
One day before Athena’s funeral, her mother broke down in tears as she spoke of her heartache.
“I will never see her bright smile or her eyes again,” she said. “I will never hear her say, ‘I love you mommy.’ I will never be able to do her hair again or hold her while she sleeps.”
Gandy also said that this Christmas would be the first in seven years without her little girl.
The package that the FedEx driver dropped off was Athena’s Christmas present, You can be anything Barbie set.
“Athena was robbed off the opportunity to grow up to be anything she wanted,” Gandy said.
“And this present, ordered out of innocence and love, is one she will never receive.”
Horner is now being held at the Wise County Law Enforcement Center in Texas with the bond set at $1.5 million.
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