The New York Post reported on April 10 that FedEx driver Tanner Horner, 34, who is accused of killing 7-year-old Athena Strand by strangulation, allegedly asked police immediately after the crime to let him spend a month — including Christmas — with his son.
A November 2022 police interrogation video shown to jurors captured Horner offering detectives an extraordinary deal in exchange for information about the murder. In the footage, he tells investigators, "I know there's a list of things you want to ask me. There's only one thing I want in this world. Give me one month." He then adds, "Put an ankle monitor on me or track me with GPS — I don't care — but let me spend one month with my family so I can have Christmas with my son, and I'll tell you everything."
Police rejected the demand as impossible for a suspect arrested on child-murder charges. Horner replied, "Anyway, that's the price of my confession." Authorities declined what the outlet described as his shameless request.
On Nov. 30, 2022, in Lake Worth, Texas, Horner allegedly abducted Athena while delivering a box of Barbie dolls intended as a Christmas gift. Prosecutors say he strangled her inside his truck and dumped her body in a nearby wooded area. He initially told investigators he had accidentally struck the girl with his truck and, panicked, killed her impulsively; this week, however, he pleaded guilty to the murder at trial.
Jurors have moved into the sentencing phase. Given the brutality of the crime and his apparent lack of remorse, Horner faces either the death penalty or life without parole, the outlet reports.
