Death penalty looms for delivery driver who killed seven-year-old girl

Warning: Distressing content

Tanner Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping at the opening of his trial in Wise County, Texas, sparing jurors the question of guilt but leaving them to determine whether he lives or dies.

The victim, Athena Strand, was just seven years old when she was killed on November 30, 2022, after arriving home from school at the family's property in Paradise, a small town north-west of Fort Worth.

Court documents reveal Horner, who was working a FedEx delivery route that afternoon, struck Athena with his truck while reversing from the family's driveway.

Rather than calling for help, he placed the injured child inside his vehicle. He later told investigators he feared she would tell her father what had happened.

His first words to the child, prosecutors told the court, were:

"Don't scream or I'll hurt you."

When family members could not find Athena that evening, she was reported missing at about 6.40pm, triggering an urgent search.

Investigators quickly identified Horner's delivery route as intersecting with the timeline of her disappearance. Her body was found two days later, roughly ten kilometres from her home near the town of Boyd.

The trial has heard harrowing evidence, including a photograph taken inside Horner's delivery truck showing Athena kneeling behind the driver's seat, visibly distressed.

Prosecutors told jurors a camera inside the vehicle had been deliberately obscured — but the audio kept recording.

Wise County District Attorney James Stainton delivered a stark warning to the jury before playing the recordings.

"Somebody covered up the camera because they don't want you to see," Stainton said.

"Guess what? Audio is still running, and you're going to hear it. You're going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child."

"And when I say it's horrible, I mean it. I've been doing this 25 years, and I promise you, buckle up."

Horner initially told police Athena had not been seriously injured in the collision. He later admitted he had attempted to kill her to prevent her from speaking about what had happened.

Prosecutors characterised his actions as a deliberate effort to cover up a crime, not a panicked response to an accident.

The jury must now choose between the death penalty and life in prison without the possibility of parole. A verdict is expected in the coming days.