The FedEx driver accused of killing Athena Strand also has three previous charges of sexually assaulting a child, jail records indicate.
Seven-year-old Athena Strand was taken from her father's home on the evening of November 30, and this sparked a community-wide search with over 200 volunteers.
Sadly, according to NBC News, Strand's body was found on December 2 - 11 miles from where she was first reported missing.
FedEx driver Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, was arrested in connection to Strand's death, as police alleged that he abducted her while delivering a package containing her Christmas present.
CBS News reported that Horner gave a full confession to the murder and was the one who took law enforcement to where Strand's body had been left.
Horner reportedly hit Strand with his truck, and in a panic put her in his van where she began saying that she would inform her father about the incident. He then allegedly strangled her to death.
Since Horner's arrest, he has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and capital murder in connection to Strand's death, per CBS News.
It has now come to light that the alleged killer has previous sexual assault charges involving a minor, as Texas jail records indicate.
Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin confirmed that Horner has three sexual assault charges that took place in Tarrant County.
The three charges were added to his record on Tuesday (December 20) and it states that the alleged incidents took place in 2013, and it is unknown if all the charges involve the same victim.
These charges do not relate to Strand's abduction and subsequent murder, for which Horner has a $1 million bond for capital murder and a $500,000 bond for aggravated kidnapping.
Strand's mother - Maitlyn Gandy - recently sat down with WFAA where she stated that she was not against her child's murderer receiving the death penalty.
"I support the death penalty. In any sentencing that may come," Gandy said. "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."
Gandy has vowed that she will fight for justice in memory of her daughter.
