FedEx driver's chilling confession to police after kidnapping and killing 7-year-old girl

A delivery driver who murdered a seven-year-old girl made a chilling admission to police, telling officers how he had disposed of her body after her death.

Bodycam footage shown in court captured 34-year-old Tanner Horner making the disturbing confession when he was first detained on suspicion of killing Athena Strand. The video was played to jurors on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping.

Horner is expected back in court later this month, where he will face either the death penalty or life in prison. Prosecutors have already condemned his actions and dishonesty, accusing him of telling “lie upon lie, upon lie, upon lie.”

The chilling admission given to police

The newly released footage shows officers searching Horner’s home for signs of Athena before pressing him for answers about her whereabouts. At one point, he told them: “I can show you.”

When an officer asked: “Is she alive?”, Horner replied: “She wasn't alive when I put her in the truck.”

The court heard that Horner strangled Athena after delivering Christmas presents to her home in Fort Worth, Texas, in November 2022. Her body was discovered two days later, around seven miles away, dumped near a rural road.

Initially, Horner claimed he had accidentally hit the child with his vehicle and then killed her in panic. He maintained that version of events until the opening day of his trial in Dallas this week, when he finally admitted to the crimes.

Jurors were told further disturbing details, including Horner’s admission that he “just kind of tossed” Athena’s body into the woods. However, he was unable to point police to the exact location where he left her.

Court shown harrowing final moments of Athena's life before horrifying murder

The court was also shown a haunting image taken inside Horner’s vehicle, showing Athena standing behind him as he drove, believed to be among the last moments of her life before the attack, and contradicting the account he'd given.

Addressing the jury, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton warned them about the evidence they would see, saying: “You are going to hear what a 250lb man can do to a 67lb child. And when I say it's horrible, I mean it...”

He added, “I'm going to put you as close as you can be without actually being there that day. We have video of it and we're going to show it now.”

Jurors were shown video footage and played audio recordings during Wednesday’s hearing. They were warned in advance that they would be exposed to deeply distressing material, including graphic audio capturing the final moments of Athena’s life.

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