Athena Strand: FedEx driver admitted to strangling a 7-year-old girl after hitting her with a truck, warrant says

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A FedEx driver has admitted to kidnapping and strangling 7-year-old Athena Strand after hitting the child with his pickup truck while making deliveries at her Texas home, according to a newly issued arrest warrant.

Tanner Horner told investigators that although Athena was not seriously hurt when he supported her, he panicked and grabbed her because he was afraid she would tell her father what happened, according to the memo, which was obtained by The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Mr. Horner is accused of killing the little girl on November 30, while her body was recovered on December 2 from a site on the edge of the Trinity River in Wise County, which he gave to police.

The arrest warrant states that a video from inside the FedEx car the suspect was driving confirmed that he took the child before she died.

Horner then told investigators that he initially tried unsuccessfully to break her neck, before strangling her to death with his bare hands in the back of the delivery van.

The 31-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested on December 2 and is being held on $1.5 million bail in the Wise County Jail. He faces charges of premeditated murder of a person under the age of ten and kidnapping.

Wise County Sheriff Lynn Akin said he and prosecutors have discussed pursuing the death penalty if Horner is convicted at trial.

Athena’s mother, Mitlin Gandhi, said the suspect was at her ex-husband’s house to deliver a package of Barbie dolls as a Christmas gift to Athena.

Tanner Horner, 31, was arrested on kidnapping and first-degree murder charges

(Wise County Jail)

Investigators as they hunted down the missing girl discovered that FedEx had delivered a package around the time the child went missing, according to the memo.

They worked with Big Topspin, a FedEx contractor who worked for the suspect, and identified the FedEx vehicle and driver who made the delivery.

Investigators then obtained video footage from cameras inside the van, which the warrant says shows the suspect speaking to Athena after he grabbed her.

When the suspect is interviewed by a sheriff’s office detective and Texas Ranger, he tells them she is dead, though she was alive when he took her in and gave him her name.

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