FedEx driver Tanner Horner is facing sentencing after, he admitted to abducting and killing seven-year-old Athena Strand while delivering her Christmas present four years ago

Tanner Horner, 34, who has record of assaulting minors, abducted Athena Strand who was playing from outside her house in Paradise, Texas in November 2022, and went on to kill the seven-year-old

Audio recording of his admission of guilt, speaking to his family members from jail, was played for jurors at his sentencing hearing on Monday, before they decide whether Horner should be executed for the murder of Strand

Tanner Speaking to his mother from the jail where he was being held after the death of Strand in November 2022, revealed to his mother that Strand came to harm, but he did not sexually assault the child because he had low libido

Prosecutors also read letters written by the killer while in jail, apologizing Stand’s family as well as other self exculpatory letters written to police

In the letters addressed to police, he variously blames his autism, his employer FedEx, even an unidentified stranger for his crime

FedEx driver Tanner Horner, [photo], admitted that he abducted a seven-year-old girl outside her Family home in Nov. 2022. While the reason he gave for the abduction is contested, it has been established that he killed Athena Strand and dumped the body miles away

Tanner Horner’s sentencing phase continued into its fifth day on Monday, nearly a week after he pled guilty to killing Athena Strand in rural Wise County in 2022. During
At Monday’s proceeding, letters Horner had written in jail prior to a suicide attempt were tendered in court, including one note addressed to Athena’s family.
The 34-year-old FedEx driver who four years ago abducted and killed a seven-year-old girl in Texas, while delivering her Christmas present revealed to his mother that he did not sexually assault the child because he had a low libido.
Tanner Horner spoke to his mother from the jail where he was being held after the abduction and death of Athena Strand in November 2022, after she inquired about the allegations leveled against him.
‘What did you do? Did she die on her own?’ his mother asked in a recording from one of the calls played at his sentencing hearing on Monday.
‘No,’ Horner then admitted.

Tanner Horner, 34, who has record of assaulting minors abducted Athena Strand, [photo], from outside her house in Paradise, Texas in November 2022, and went on to kill the seven-year-old

‘Oh my God,’ his mother responds before asking him whether he sexually abused the little girl.
‘Tanner, I just hope you didn’t do nothing weird to that little girl,’ she told her son, to which he replied that he did not.
‘OK. I didn’t think you did, I just know how you get,’ Horner’s mother said.
‘Well, actually, with my medication, I barely even have a libido as it is,’ Horner responds.
In a follow up recording of conversation with his grandmother, Horner again denied raping Athena.
“Are you remorseful, Tanner?” his grandmother asked.
“How can I not be?” he replied. “I haven’t been on my medication for the last few weeks, and I’m feeling emotional.”
He broke down on the call while talking about not being able to spend Christmas with his young son.
The incriminating recording was played for jurors, who must now decide whether Horner should be executed for abducting Strand from outside her home in Paradise, Texas, while she played outside unattended. 

The seven-year-old Athena Strand, seen [photo], with her mother Maitlyn Gandy was kidnapped and strangled by Horner when he was delivering Christmas gifts to her family home in November 2022 

Horner had been delivering a box of Barbies that were due to be Strand’s Christmas present when he abducted and strangled the youngster before dumping her body in a creek. 
A now-infamous grab from a video camera inside his delivery van showed a concerned-looking Strand being driven to her death. 
In another phone call played in court on Monday, Horner again denied raping Athena to his grandmother.
‘Are you remorseful, Tanner?’ she asked her grandson.
‘How can I not be?’ he replied. ‘I haven’t been on my medication for the last few weeks and I’m getting emotional.’
The FedEx driver then went on to break down on the call, while talking about how he would not be able to spend Christmas with his young son. 
In January 2023, Horner decided to send Strand’s heartbroken family a letter filled with remorse..
Questioned about an incident in the Wise County jail, specifically about the letters, Sgt. Brett Yaro said he visited Horner’s cell after Horner was taken to the hospital following his suicide attempt.
Horner Yaro said, had left the letters laid out on a bench in the cell. One envelope was addressed to “Athena’s Family,” another was addressed to “Detectives ONLY!!!” and yet another was addressed to Legacy Church in Springtown, in Parker County.
Another envelope was addressed to two people living in Fort Worth, while one more was addressed to someone living in Burleson.

Horner, seen with Strand, [photo from the abduction], blamed the murder on the delivery company FedEx changing his driving routes in a self-pitying letter to her family

The prosecution chose to read two of those letters on Monday: the one addressed to the Strand family and the one addressed to detectives.
In the letter to Strand’s family written in January 2023, Horner told the bereaved family that he didn’t ‘do well with changes or things that are unpredictable’ due to his Asperger’s Syndrome – an autism spectrum disorder whose sufferers may struggle to cope if their usual daily routine is disrupted.
‘When I first started out as a driver at FedEx,’ he wrote, ‘I was given a singular route and that route wouldn’t change for a while,’ he explained.
‘After a bit, my employer started making random changes to my route, adding stuff from other routes so they could make more money. 
‘I don’t do well with change, I can have meltdowns when unexpected changes to my daily routine happens.’ 

He moaned about the impact his vile crime would have on his own family in the letter to Strand’s loved ones 

Horner said he was extremely stressed by not being able to drive the exact same route in his FedEx truck every day, which he blamed for committing the murder, adding that his frustration with driving varying routes led him to have a ‘suicidal episode’ shortly before killing the seven-year-old.
He reveals how he suppressed those urges stating the ‘only thing that stopped me was thinking of my son growing up without his father,’ the murder suspect writes, shifting the blame onto his employer.
‘I got put on medication and a week later I was back at work. I let my employers know I needed to keep a consistent routine and I wouldn’t have any issues, and I was ignored,’ he wrote. 
‘When I returned they did the opposite of what was good for someone like me. They put me on a different route every day.’ 

Victim blaming: Horner claimed in the letter addressed to the bereaved family that Athena Strand, 7, who was playing in front of her family’s house, was in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’

Horner then claimed his demands to FedEx ‘went in one ear and out the other’. . . …. ‘in hindsight I think they were trying to get me to quit, which in retrospect was kind of scammy.’ 
In his letter to the victim’s family, Horner laments the impact his actions on his own family: ‘So many people were affected by my breakdown. Not just your family but mine as well. You’re never going to get to see your baby girl grow up… now my son is going to grow up without his father and protector,’ he wrote. 
In a twist of victim blaming, Horner claims that 7-year-old Athena Strand, by playing in front of her family’s house, was in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time.’ 

At Horner’s trial sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutors for the first time, revealed images of the creek where investigators recovered Strand’s body, as directed Horner

‘I’m sorry I allowed my mental state to be unstable. I’m sorry I took your little angel away from you. She didn’t deserve it. My son didn’t deserve to lose his father,’ he wrote.  
‘My mother didn’t deserve to lose her son. My fiancé didn’t deserve to have her wedding day stripped away from her. I pray my death eases your suffering,’ he concluded. 

Expanding the scope of his blame game, Horner’s letters includes a ‘side note’ detailing his frustrations with FedEx. The delivery company he wrote was ‘negligent when it comes to safety’

Horner’s letter also included a ‘side note’ continuing his frustrations with FedEx, who he accused of being ‘negligent when it comes to safety.’ 
In the letter he addressed to detectives, Horner also tried to evade accountability for killing Strand by alluding to a stranger was responsible for his crime. 
This man was present when he abducted Strand. This man he claims pulled a ‘rifle’ on him, demanding that he murder the child. 
Prosecutors say there is no evidence of anyone else being responsible for Strand’s murder.
At Horner’s trial on Monday, prosecutors also revealed the first images of the creek where Horner dumped Strand’s body, as an agent said he waded in waist-deep water to retrieve her remains. 
Medical examiner Jessica Dwyer testified that Strand was found naked in the water with her hands covered by plastic bags, though she noted the young girl’s body showed no signs of sexual trauma.
The autopsy however, determined that Strand suffered trauma to her head, neck, chest and back. 

Earlier in his trial, it was revealed that Horner also made an audacious request to investigators to be given a month to enjoy Christmas with his son when he was first arrested in November 2022

Strand’s body, a according to testimony of a forensics expert had markings pressed into her face matching the floor of Horner’s FedEx truck

A forensics expert previously testified last week that when police found Strand’s body, she had markings pressed into her face that matched the floor of Horner’s FedEx vehicle.
Further proof of the murder suspect’s apparent dissociation with the gravity his crime, had been revealed earlier in the trial – when prosecutors revealed that Horner following his arrest in November 2022, submitted an audacious request to investigators to be granted a month’s furlough to enjoy Christmas with his son.
In footage played in court on Thursday, Horner was seen being questioned following his arrest in November 2022. When pressed to reveal the location of Strand’s body, the suspect requested to an interview with investigators.
After starting the conversation with detectives saying, ‘I imagine that you have, basically, a list and bullet points that you want to know from me,’ he then said ‘There’s only one thing in this world that I want.’ ‘I want a month., he says to the cops
‘You can’t do that, I understand. Even if y’all have to put an ankle monitor on me, GPS monitor, check-ups with you.
‘If you give me a month with my family, so I can have Christmas with my son, I’ll tell you everything,’ he demands from his interviewers who then tell the suspect that his entitled request was not possible, as he was under arrest for the murder of the child.
‘Either way, that’s basically my price,’ Horner responded.
The request was not granted.