Tanner Horner made a chilling confession to police when he was first apprehended for the murder of Athena Strand, seven, who was discovered dead near Fort Worth, Texas
A FedEx driver who murdered a seven-year-old girl told police he “kind of tossed her” into the woods when he was first detained.
Bodycam footage captured Tanner Horner, 34, make the harrowing confession during his arrest on suspicion of Athena Strand’s murder. This video was played in court on Wednesday after Horner admitted one charge of capital murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping.
The killer will appear in court later this month where he will either face the death penalty or life in prison. The prosecution had blasted his deceit, slamming his “lie upon lie, upon lie, upon lie”.
And the newly released bodycam footage shows police search Horner’s home for signs of Athena before demanding he tell them where she was. He told the officers: “‘I can show you.” One cop asks him: “Is she alive?” Horner responded: “She wasn’t alive when I put her in the truck.”
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Horner had strangled the girl after delivering Christmas presents at her home in Fort Worth, Texas, in November 2022. Athena’s body was found two days later approximately seven miles from her home, beside a country road.
Initially, Horner told authorities he had accidentally struck the youngster with his truck, and then strangled her in a fit of panic. He continued to deny murder until the first day of his trial in Dallas, Texas, this week.
Proceedings heard grim details about Horner’s crimes, including how he told police he “just kind of tossed” Athena into the woods after she had died. He was, though, unable to identify the exact location of the youngster’s body.
The court was also shown a disturbing picture of Athena stood behind Horner in the vehicle as he drove her to her death. The nightmarish image was the girl’s final moments as, just minutes later, Horner attacked the child.
Addressing the jury, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said: “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… 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 watched video and listening to audio files during the hearing on Wednesday. They were warned they would be faced with gruesome evidence, including horrific audio of Athena’s killing, during the proceedings.
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