Chilling details of FedEx driver Tanner Horner’s childhood were laid bare in court on Wednesday, April 22.
Tanner’s mother took the stand to talk about her son, who is hoping to avoid being executed for ending the life of 7-year-old Athena Strand.
“I’m so mad at him,” the mother said in court. “…She was just a little girl.”
Photos of a smiling boy were flashed to the Texas jury, showing them who Tanner was and who he became.
Tanner Horner is hoping to be spared from capital punishment for taking Athena Strand’s life and dumping her body in a river
Image credits: WFAA
Trigger warning: this article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
7-year-old Athena Strand was abducted from her driveway in Paradise, Texas, in November 2022.
FedEx driver Tanner Horner was delivering her Christmas gift, a set of “You Can Be Anything” Barbie dolls, to her home when he found the little girl eagerly waiting in the driveway.
Image credits: Maitlyn Presley Gandy
It is believed Tanner tossed her into the back of his delivery truck and drove off. Her body was later found in the Trinity River, not far from her home.
After he pleaded guilty to Athena’s kidnapping and homicide this month, the defense has been trying to spare him from capital punishment.
His mother, who struggles with dependence on illicit substances, was brought to the stand on Wednesday as the trial continues.
Chilling details of FedEx driver Tanner Horner’s childhood were laid bare in court
Image credits: WFAA/Wise County Jail
“I’m so mad at him,” the mother tearfully said when asked if she was angry with her son’s actions. “I want to just tear his a** up. She was just a baby.”
“Of course, I love my son,” she later said. “I don’t love who did that, though. I don’t know who that was.”
While talking about her own childhood, the mother said she was born to a teen mom and was only a year old when her parents divorced.
She recalled being mistreated by her stepfather, saying, “I was four when he tried to have s*x with me.”
Image credits: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
Tanner’s mother spoke about being dependent on illicit substances for years and going to rehab at age 14 for smoking marijuana.
After dropping out of school, she worked at restaurants and “topless bars.” She then earned a living from working at str*p clubs till she was 30.
When asked how she felt about working at str*p joints, the mother said, “It seemed to fit in with my life… I think when you’re ab*sed at such a young age, it becomes the self-concept. You know, this is what I’m here for.”
The mother said Tanner’s father rap*d her on the very first night they met
Image credits: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
When she spoke about meeting Tanner’s father Terry, she recalled being rap*d by him on the very first night they met.
She was only 19 when she decided to marry him, but “It wasn’t for love,” she said.
The mother said she was still drinking heavily and doing hard substances when she was pregnant with Tanner because she only realized she was carrying about 8 weeks in. She then stopped drinking but continued smoking.
“It was hard to watch. Very sad,” the mother said about her son being bullied. “They didn’t like him at all.”
Image credits: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
Tanner grew up with the struggles of having a parent hooked on illicit substances.
“I nodded out one time, on the toilet,” the mother recalled. “Tanner came in. He was just a little guy and he thought I was de*d.”
He and his brother lived in rehab centers with their mother on and off over the years.
In addition to struggles at home, Tanner was also bullied and had a hard time making friends, his mother said.
“I mean, he wanted to get along with people, but they just weren’t interested in having conversations with him,” she said.
“It was hard to watch. Very sad,” she added. “They didn’t like him at all.”
She noticed there was something different about Tanner and said he was eventually diagnosed with ADHD and Asperger Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that affects one’s social interactions.
The mother recalled how her son would act out violently by hitting himself in the head when other kids bullied him in school. But he never hit her or other people at the time, she said.
Image credits: COURT TV
While the defense hopes their client will be spared capital punishment, prosecutors have been pushing for the ultimate penalty, showing photos, videos, and audio clips as evidence of the torture Tanner is believed to have inflicted on Athena in the final moments of her life.
“Are you a kidnapper?” she was heard repeatedly asking him in the audio retrieved from Tanner’s delivery truck.
Each time she asked, she would be ordered to sit down and not scream, or else she would get hurt.
“Are you a kidnapper?” Athena repeatedly asked Tanner after he tossed her into his delivery truck
Image credits: Facebook / Maitlyn Presley Gandy
After Athena asked where they were going, Tanner covered the camera inside the truck, but their conversation continued being recorded.
The driver engaged in small talk with his victim, asking her about her school, her teacher’s name, and more.
“You’re really pretty. You know that?” he then said.
Image credits: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
Tanner is believed to have stopped the truck at some point and asked the child to remove her shirt.
Jurors sobbed in court as Athena was heard saying “no” and begging for her mother.
Repeated sounds of crying, screaming, and slamming noises were captured in the audio clip.
Athena was heard saying “no” and cried for her mother while being tortured by the former FedEx driver
Image credits: Maitlyn Presley Gandy
“You are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,” Attorney James Stainton told jurors during a previous court session.
He said the kidnapper’s DNA was found under Athena’s fingernails, which suggested she tried to fight him off at the time.
There was DNA “in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl,” prosecutors said.
About a day after Tanner strangled Athena and dumped her body, he made several Google searches on his device that were shown in court earlier this month.
“Do FedEx truck cameras constantly record,” and “Paradise missing girl” were some of his searches.
Athena’s family are waiting to know the fate of the man who violently took the little girl’s life.
“She was loved. She is loved. And she is missed,” Athena’s mother Maitlyn Gandy said in court earlier this month. “And she was real. And she had a life and she wanted to live. And no one can take that from her. Not a single person can take that from her.”
“Her account is sad, but her son did something monstrous,” one commented after Tanner’s mother took the stand
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