The package that Tanner Lynn Horner delivered that day was a box of Barbies, a Christmas gift for Athena Strand, according to her mother.
A FedEx driver accused of kidnapping and murdering a young girl in Texas told authorities that he strangled the victim after unintentionally hitting her with his van while delivering a delivery at her residence.
Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, told investigators that Athena Strand, age seven, was not significantly injured after he hit her while reversing last week, but he panicked and placed her in his vehicle.
According to the warrant, Horner stated he didn’t want Athena, whose name he claimed she told him, to tell her father what occurred, so he attempted to break the girl’s neck and, when that failed, strangled her with his hands in the back of the van.
Two days after she was reported missing from her father and stepmother’s home in Paradise, a hamlet approximately 60 miles (96km) northwest of Dallas, Athena was discovered dead on December 2.
Her mother, Maitlyn Gandy, stated that the parcel delivered by Horner that day was a Christmas gift for the “beautiful little child.”
“I was deprived of witnessing her grow up,” Ms. Gandy said during a news conference on Thursday, standing next to a box of You Can Be Anything Barbies.
Ms. Gandy stated that Athena was scheduled to return to Oklahoma following the holiday break.
She stated that she was “her father’s daughter” and loved dancing, singing, and all animals.
Tuesday night, a vigil was held in Paradise in memory of Athena, with attendees wearing pink.
Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin stated that they learned early on that a package had been sent to the girl’s home about the same time she vanished, and that she was slain roughly an hour after being abducted.
According to the warrant, Horner led investigators to the location where he hid Athena’s body.
According to the report, the van that delivered the box was outfitted with a video camera, and an FBI agent who viewed the footage witnessed the driver take a little girl who resembled Athena into the van and converse with her.
Last week, Horner was arrested on charges of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. On Thursday, he remained in jail with a $1.5 million bond.
According to the warrant, Horner confessed to the investigators that Athena was deceased. Inmate records did not indicate a counsel who could represent him.
