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Published 12:47 28 Apr 2026 GMT
The pastor of the church attended by child killer Tanner Horner has revealed shocking information about the murderer of seven-year-old Athena Strand.
At Horner’s death penalty hearing on Monday, the pastor - identified only as “Gary” -testified, revealing that the killer allegedly used to bring a bag of knives to his church.
Horner, 34, admitted to murdering Strand after abducting her from outside her father’s home in Paradise, Texas, while she played outside in November 2022.
He is now facing the possibility of a death sentence after admitting to kidnapping and killing the child.
A jury is debating whether he deserves capital punishment after the shocking confession at the beginning of his trial.
The court, outside Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, also heard how Horner told cops that the schoolgirl was not seriously injured after he accidentally hit her with his van during a delivery, but he panicked and bundled her into the back of his van.
Disturbingly, he attempted to snap her neck to avoid telling her dad that he had knocked her over.
An arrest warrant states that when that failed to kill her, Horner strangled her to death.
The former FedEx driver became a member of pastor Gary’s church when he was in junior high.
At the trial, the cleric described Horner as a normal kid who had a form of autism. He later explained that Horner’s behaviour suddenly changed, and he became cold and uncommunicative after he switched medication.
The pastor said: “We tried to talk to him, but he started carrying a bag to church, and at some point you have to figure out, 'What's in the bag?'"
Reportedly, officials and security at the church searched the bag and found it to be filled with a variety of knives, which he apparently did not understand why he was not allowed to bring into the church, and stopped attending regularly.
Gary explained to the courtroom that the murderer got in touch after he was arrested for Strand’s death in 2022.
According to the pastor, Horner requested to be read a bible verse and did not mention the child he had recently murdered.
Pastor Gary told the jury: "I met with him, and I just wanted to make sure he was OK and wanted to make sure he understood, you know, really what had happened, because of his autism. I don't know what range of the spectrum he was, but connecting things was sometimes you had to really help him connect that.
“As a pastor, we don't always get to do the easy things. We do what we're called to do.”
