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Monster FedEx driver tried to strike outrageous deal with police after killing 7-year-old girl

April 11, 2026 | | Print Article

A 34-year-old former FedEx driver who pleaded guilty to the murder of a little girl outrageously demanded time with his son after his arrest.

This past Tuesday, former FedEx driver Tanner Horner pleaded guilty to the capital murder of 7-year-old North Texas girl Athena Strand.

As previously reported, Horner abducted Strand from her home on Nov. 30, 2022, after dropping off a Barbie doll package her parents had ordered as a Christmas gift for the now-deceased girl. He later claimed he’d accidentally hit Strand with his truck and panicked.

Below is a horrifying, just-released photo showing her on her knees in the back of his truck (*Graphic content):

Sometime after the abduction, Tanner strangled Strand to death in the back of his truck after a physical struggle during which the girl fought for her life and then dumped her naked body in a nearby river.

Following Strand’s disappearance, the police tracked down Horner based on the package he’d dropped off at her family’s home. He eventually led them to Strand’s body and was subsequently charged and arrested.

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It’s since been learned that following his arrest, he vowed to tell investigators “everything” if they did him a favor.

“I imagine that you have, basically, a list and bullet points that you want to know from me,” he told them, according to station KXAS. “There’s only one thing in this world that I want. I want a month.”

“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. Either way, that’s basically my price,” he added.

He asked for this outrageous favor despite also admitting to the police in a separate interview that he’d removed all of Strand’s clothes after killing her because he’d thought it was funny:

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“Are you saying you stripped her naked to throw her clothes out the window? On the highway?” investigators asked him.

“I thought it was funny,” Horner replied.

At one point, he even alleged to investigators that he hadn’t killed Strand and that, rather, his alter ego “Zero” had done so.

“You feel like Zero pulled the trigger?” investigators asked him.

“I feel like it, yeah,” Horner replied. “I tried to disarm the gun. I tried to stop all of this from happening.”

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Though unable to prove it, prosecutors suspect that Horner sexually assaulted Strand prior to her death. In fact, he reportedly has a history of such degenerate behavior.

“On Dec. 20, 2022, two months after he was arrested in Wise County, a woman told Fort Worth police that she was sexually assaulted by Horner in 2013, when she was 16 years old, and he was 22,” according to station WFAA. “The victim … told officers that she was drinking at Horner’s house and stayed the night to avoid being caught by her grandma.”

“When she got into bed, Horner started making sexual advances, which she pulled away from several times, the affidavit states. In her drunken state, she gave in to his advances and told officers she felt gross and ashamed when she sobered up,” the report continued.

An affidavit against Horner reads as follows: “Due to the fact that the suspect knew the victim was 16 years old at the time of the sexual assault, and the victim was intoxicated and unable to resist, I believe the suspect committed the offense of sexual assault of a child.”

If he’s eventually prosecuted for that assault, it’ll only be after his current case has fully concluded.

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Vivek Saxena
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