34-year-old Tanner Horner abducted and killed 7-year-old girl Athena Strand in November of 2022. Now, chilling letters from his time in his cell have come to light.
Tanner Horner, a FedEx driver, abducted 7-year-old Athena Strand from her home in Lake Worth on November 30, 2022, while delivering a package of Barbie dolls meant as a Christmas gift.
Investigators say he later strangled the child inside his delivery truck before leaving her body in a nearby wooded area.
During the early stages of the investigation, Horner allegedly attempted to mislead authorities, claiming he had accidentally struck the girl with his vehicle and killed her in a panic.
Last week, Horner pleaded guilty to murder, moving the case into its final phase. A jury will now decide his sentence, which could be either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Additional details about the early investigation have also emerged. According to video footage shown to jurors on Thursday last week, Horner was seen attempting to negotiate a deal with Texas police in exchange for providing information about the crime.
“I imagine that you have, basically, a list and bullet points that you want to know from me,” Hold told investigators in the footage, shot in an interrogation room in November 2022.
FedEx driver Tanner Horner wrote letter to Athena Strand’s family after he killed her
He continued, “There’s only one thing in this world that I want. I want a month. “Even if y’all have to put an ankle monitor on me, a 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.”
While in his cell, Tanner Horner used his time to write several letters, which have now been uncovered. Per CBS, he described how he had lived with Asberger’s Syndrome and that he does not do well with “unpredictible changes.”
He said he was given one specific route when he began working as a FedEx driver, but when his employer started making “random changes” to it to “make more money,” he couldn’t adjust. He stated it almost made him want to take his own life.
The changes in routes led to a mental health decline, Horner claimed,” and caused a meltdown.
“I’m sorry I allowed my mental state to be unstable,” he wrote, per CBS. “My son didn’t deserve to lose his father. My mother didn’t deserve to lose her son. My fiancé didn’t deserve to have her wedding day stripped away from her.”
Horner continued, “The only thing I ask is for forgiveness and for you to remember my son and show him some grace and mercy,” Horner wrote, “for he no longer has his father. I love you all, and I’m sorry.”
“I pray that my death eases your suffering”
While Horner wrote letters about his past, including one to his son, a letter to Athena’s parents was also discovered. According to WFAA, Horner wrote an apologetic letter to the 7-year-old’s family, expressing his remorse for taking their “little angel.”
The FedEx driver wrote the letter shortly before his attempt to take his own life in jail in 2023.
“I’m sorry I took your little angel away from you. She didn’t deserve it. Ya’ll didn’t deserve it,” he wrote. “I pray that my death eases your suffering in some way.”
Rest in peace, Athena Strand. Please share this article and give us your opinion.
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