A FedEx driver has admitted to abducting and strangling a little girl whose Christmas present he was delivering, just before his capital murder trial was due to begin.
Tanner Horner, 34, made his guilty plea moments before his trial for the November 2022 killing of seven-year-old Athena Strand was due to begin in Fort Worth, Texas.
Strand, seven, was snatched from her family’s home in North Texas on November 30, 2022.
Horner claimed he was delivering Barbie dolls to the house when he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, ‘panicked,’ grabbed her, and put her in his vehicle.
Fearing what would happen if he told Strand’s parents, he strangled her inside the truck and dumped her body seven miles from her home, beside a country road. Her body was found two days later.
Horner – who previously pleaded not guilty to the heinous killing – on Tuesday pled guilty to capital murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping.
Under Texas law, capital murder of a person under ten years old qualifies Horner for the death penalty.
The case has now been sent to the punishment phase, meaning a jury must decide whether he will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.
Athena Strand, 7, was kidnapped and strangled on November 30, 2022 by a contracted FedEx worker delivering gifts to her family home in North Texas
Tanner Horner, 34, has now pled guilty to capital murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping
Horner was arrested on December 2, 2022, the same day Strand’s body was found.
He allegedly confessed to police that he abducted and kidnapped the child during a delivery to her family’s home.
On February 17, 2023, a jury in Wise County formally charged Horner with kidnapping and murdering the young girl.
On top of the murder charge, Horner was charged with sexually assaulting a child almost a decade ago and faces three additional counts of sexually abusing a child in 2013 in Fort Worth.
Horner’s attorneys have previously argued that his autism diagnosis should bar him from the death penalty.
In a motion to dispel the death penalty that was filed in January this year, his lawyers said: ‘Mr. Horner’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his moral blameworthiness, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully sentenced to death
Strand’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, has vehemently supported the death penalty for Horner if he’s found guilty of murdering her daughter.
Gandy released a statement after Horner was indicted – expressing her love for her late daughter, and support of capital punishment.
She said at the time: ‘I would like to thank the Wise County grand jury for their role in this process. Hearing the facts and circumstances of my seven-year-old daughter’s kidnapping and murder was undoubtedly very difficult for them.’
Horner was delivering this You Can Be Anything Barbie to Strand’s father and stepmother’s house in Paradise, Texas when he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, ‘panicked,’ grabbed her, and put her in his vehicle
Fearing what would happen if he told Strand’s parents, he strangled her inside the truck and dumped her body seven miles from her home, beside a country road. Her body was found two days later
‘I want them to know that their work is deeply appreciated,’ Gandy added. ‘Tanner Horner’s indictment is the beginning of a long road through the justice system.
‘I appreciate everyone’s continued support and for keeping Athena’s name and memory alive. Please take a moment to hug your children and loved ones. No one is promised another day.’
‘I support the death penalty. In any sentencing that may come,’ she told WFAA. ‘Every breath he takes is one my daughter doesn’t.
‘If I could sit down in front of him, I would tell him that he is nothing, but that Athena is absolutely everything – and I will make sure that everybody in this world knows that he is nothing and that she is everything.’
Strand’s father, Jacob, has launched legal action against FedEx, claiming they did not carry out sufficient background checks before hiring Horner.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
