'A terrible thing': Former FedEx driver Tanner Horner apologizes to family of Texas girl in letter

Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Apr 14, 2026

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Former FedEx driver Tanner Horner apologized to Athena Strand’s family for killing their daughter, but also joked with his grandmother about selling his story for $1 million, according to evidence presented Monday during Horner’s capital murder trial in Fort Worth.

Horner, 34, pleaded guilty Tuesday, April 7, to capital murder in Athena’s killing. The jury will decide whether Horner should receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Athena went missing from her family’s Wise County property the afternoon of Nov. 30, 2022. Video evidence shows Horner abducted the 7-year-old while delivering a package to her home. He later strangled her and dumped her body in a creek along the Trinity River in rural Wise County, according to prosecutors

On Monday morning, jurors saw letters the defendant had left in his Wise County Jail cell during a suicide attempt in May 2023.

“I’ve done a terrible thing to your family, and I’m sorry,” Horner wrote in the letter labeled “For Athena’s Family.”

Horner said so many people were affected by his “breakdown,” and he wanted to “explain where my mind was at.” The defendant went on to blame his autism and recent problems he’d been experiencing at work and home for what he did to Athena.

Horner asked for forgiveness and said he hoped his death “eases your suffering in some way.”

In a second letter for “Detectives Only,” Horner said his family was in danger and “I wasn’t the only one involved.” He claimed an older man with a rifle was on Athena’s property when he pulled up to the house. The unidentified stranger forced him at gunpoint to kidnap the 7-year-old and bring her to a certain location, Horner claimed in the letter.

Horner wrote that the man threatened his family, so he obeyed. He implied that the stranger killed Athena and left her body by the creek.

“This is between me and you, detective,” Horner wrote.

Horner had previously blamed his alter ego “Zero” for Athena’s death.

On Monday afternoon, jurors listened to recordings of conversations between Horner and family members in the days following his Dec. 2, 2022, arrest.

In a phone call to his mother and an in-person visit with his grandmother, Horner appears to downplay the circumstances that led to his arrest. He told his mother, Melissa Horner, that he’d hit Athena with his FedEx truck while leaving her property.

“That truck doesn’t have a backup camera,” Horner can be heard saying. “Well, it had a backup camera, but it doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for like two months.”

“Are you kidding me?” he says when his mom tells him his bail has been set at $1.5 million.

When talking with his maternal grandmother, Jacqueline Harvison, Horner said he wanted to know what TV reports were saying about the case.

“I guarantee they’re always making it worse than it is,” Horner can be heard saying.

“They want their story, that’s all they want,” he says a little later.

Horner told Harvison he was “half tempted” to write a letter to the news outlets asking them to bail him out and give him an extra million dollars and “I’ll give you your story,” he says.

When Harvison asks if he’s remorseful, Horner becomes emotional and talks about his 1-year-old son having Christmas without him. He begs his grandmother to send him photos of the little boy’s Christmas celebration.

“All I want for Christmas is ... just to have pictures of you guys,” Horner says.

Dr. Jessica Dwyer, chief medical examiner for the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, performed Athena’s autopsy on Dec. 3, 2022. She said the child died from blunt force injuries with smothering and strangulation.

Dwyer detailed her findings for the jury Monday and said there were numerous injuries to Athena’s face, head, neck, chest and back that occurred before her death. She also said the examination didn’t find evidence of sexual trauma, but some type of sexual contact was still possible.

A sexual assault kit was also included in the autopsy along with other DNA evidence, but the results haven’t been shared in court yet.

“Was there any area on her head, neck, shoulders, face, back of her head, top of her head, back of her back, top of her chest ... that did not have some evidence of injuries?” prosecutor Patrick Berry asked Dwyer.

“All of those areas had injury,” the medical examiner replied.

Horner’s trial will resume at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The prosecution is expected to finish its case against Horner by the end of the week, which will be followed by defense attorneys presenting their case.

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