Authorities claimed a FedEx driver in Texas panicked after hitting a 7-year-old girl with his work van and tossed her in the truck, where he killed her.
Tanner Lynn Horner, 31, is charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after allegedly striking Athena Strand with his work vehicle, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Thursday.
Horner allegedly told investigators that the child was not seriously injured when he inadvertently backed into her. Horner allegedly told investigators that he spoke to the child in his van and that she told him her name, according to the affidavit.
However, he killed her after he “panicked” and because “she was going to tell her father about being hit by the FedEx truck the Defendant was operating,” according to the affidavit.
Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that Athena’s mother, Marilyn Gandy, said Horner was delivering Athena’s Christmas present, “You Can Be Anything” Barbie dolls, shortly before she was killed.”Athena was robbed of the opportunity to grow up to be anything she wanted to be,” Gandy said, while at times breaking down and crying. “I was supposed to bring Athena back home to Oklahoma after Christmas break. Now instead, Athena will be cremated and she will come home in an urn because I am not anywhere close to being ready to let my baby go.”
According to the affidavit, Athena’s stepmother called 911 on Nov. 30 around 6:41 p.m. to report the girl had gone missing from their home in Paradise, Wise County.
According to the complaint, the kid was reported missing less than an hour after her stepmother last saw her in her temporary bedroom, which was a converted storage shed she shared with her stepsister.
According to the affidavit, investigators discovered FedEx delivered a package around the time she went missing. Investigators collaborated with a contracting company that delivered FedEx packages to determine which vehicle and driver performed the delivery.
According to the affidavit, investigators also discovered that the FedEx vehicle was outfitted with cameras that took one-minute footage. According to the affidavit, an FBI employee evaluated video evidence and “found the driver had taken a young girl who was visibly similar to Athena in his van. The driver was seen on video talking to her in the van,”
Horner was identified as the driver by investigators.
Horner allegedly informed investigators where to find the child after admitting to killing her. According to the affidavit, law enforcement officers discovered the deceased infant in water.
