DALLAS (AP) 鈥� A former FedEx driver pleaded guilty Tuesday to after delivering a Christmas gift to her Texas home, where he told authorities he accidentally struck her with his van and then strangled her in a fit of panic.
Tanner Horner faces either the death penalty or life in prison in the 2022 killing of , whose body was found she was reported missing in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth. Jurors will now decide Horner鈥檚 punishment.
鈥淭he only truthful thing that Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her,鈥� Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said during opening statements. 鈥淭he pattern and web of lies that he put together, it鈥檚 going to be hard for y’all to keep up with. It is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie.鈥�
As Athena鈥檚 stepmother testified, the jury was shown an image of Athena taken from a video inside the delivery truck. She was still alive and sitting on her knees behind the driver鈥檚 seat.
Stainton said the scenario that Horner told authorities 鈥� that he hit her with his vehicle and panicked 鈥� is an 鈥渁bsolute lie.鈥� He said she was uninjured when Horner put her into the vehicle.
鈥淭he first thing Tanner Horner says to Athena when he picks her up and puts her in that truck, he leans down and he says: 鈥楧on鈥檛 scream or I鈥檒l hurt you.鈥� He says that twice,鈥� Stainton said.
Stainton told jurors that the evidence in the case is 鈥渞ough,鈥� and they will watch video of what happened that day and then hear audio after the camera has been covered up.
鈥淵ou are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child,鈥� Stainton said. 鈥淎nd when I say it鈥檚 horrible, I mean it.鈥�
He said Athena fought Horner, and his DNA was found under her fingernails. He also said Horner’s DNA was found 鈥渋n places where you shouldn鈥檛 find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.鈥�
According to an arrest warrant, Horner told authorities that he strangled Athena after accidentally hitting her with his van while making a delivery. Horner told investigators that Athena wasn鈥檛 seriously hurt after he hit her while backing up, but he panicked and put her in his van.
Horner said he didn鈥檛 want her to tell her father what happened, so he first tried to break the girl鈥檚 neck and when that didn鈥檛 work, he strangled her with his hands in the back of the van, the warrant said. The warrant said Horner took investigators to where he鈥檇 left Athena鈥檚 body.
In opening statements, Horner鈥檚 attorney Steven Goble told jurors: 鈥淲hen someone鈥檚 brain is what鈥檚 injured, you don鈥檛 see it.鈥�
While acknowledging that the evidence against Horner was 鈥渙verwhelming鈥� and 鈥渢errible,鈥� he told jurors that Horner鈥檚 mother drank while she was pregnant, that he has autism and suffered from 鈥渧arious mental illnesses throughout his life鈥� in addition to being exposed to a 鈥渕assive amount of lead.鈥�
Goble asked jurors to sentence him to life in prison.
Ashley Strand, Athena’s stepmother, told jurors that the package Horner had dropped off was a Christmas present for Athena 鈥� a box of 鈥淵ou Can Be Anything鈥� Barbies. Strand, who has since divorced Athena’s father, said Athena enjoyed living out on their land in the country, where she got to 鈥渞un wild and free.鈥�
The trial was moved from rural Wise County to Fort Worth after Horner鈥檚 attorneys argued that he would not have received a fair trial.
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