Mother of FedEx Driver Who Murdered Girl Testifies About Troubled Upbringing
The mother of FedEx driver Tanner Horner, who admitted to murdering seven-year-old Athena Strand, broke down in court on Wednesday as she spoke about her son's difficult upbringing during his sentencing hearing. The woman, referred to only as 'Mrs. Horner' in court proceedings, gave emotional testimony about her own troubled past and how it affected her son's development.
Mother's Heartbreaking Testimony
Mrs. Horner told jurors that she used drugs and drank alcohol before discovering she was pregnant with Tanner, and described how her son was bullied throughout his childhood. 'I mean, he wanted to get along with people, but they just weren't interested in having conversations with him,' she testified, according to court reports. 'It was hard to watch. Very sad. They didn't like him at all.'
Defense attorneys are hoping jurors will consider this testimony as they deliberate whether Tanner Horner should receive the death penalty for his crimes. The defendant pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on April 7, just hours before his trial was scheduled to begin.
Mother's Anger and Disbelief
While Tanner Horner admitted to strangling Athena Strand to death, he denied raping the young girl before her murder. His mother expressed disbelief about this denial during her testimony. 'I am so mad at him,' Mrs. Horner said when asked by defense attorneys if she was angry with her son. 'I want to just tear his a** up... She was just a baby.'
Traumatic Childhood Experiences
Much of Mrs. Horner's testimony focused on her own traumatic upbringing and how it impacted Tanner's development. She revealed that she was born to a teenage mother, her parents divorced when she was just one year old, and her stepfather began sexually abusing her at age four.
'I don't remember having dreams,' Mrs. Horner testified. 'I didn't have a childhood.'
She described decades of drug abuse and mental health struggles, including using heroin for 25 years and currently being on methadone treatment. 'I used everything I could get my hands on,' she told the court. 'It wasn't a good lifestyle.'
Diagnoses and Early Struggles
The woman, whose image was blurred in the court livestream to protect her anonymity, also disclosed that she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder. She entered rehab for the first time at age 14, dropped out of high school, and eventually worked at a Fort Worth, Texas strip club as a teenager.
It was there that she met Tanner's father, Terry, who she said raped her on their first meeting. Despite this traumatic beginning, she married him at age 19. 'It wasn't for love,' she told jurors.
Pregnancy and Continued Substance Abuse
Mrs. Horner testified that she didn't realize she was pregnant with Tanner until approximately eight and a half weeks into her pregnancy. Until that point, she continued using drugs and drinking 'pretty heavily, enough to get cirrhosis.'
Even after discovering her pregnancy, she admitted to continuing smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and maintained drug use throughout Tanner's childhood. She recounted one particularly disturbing incident when Tanner was just two years old: 'I nodded out one time, on the toilet. Tanner came in. He was just a little guy and he thought I was dead.'
Unstable Living Conditions
Throughout his childhood, Tanner and his younger brother lived with their mother at rehabilitation centers at times. When Mrs. Horner was arrested on drug and prostitution charges, the boys would stay with their grandmother. Mrs. Horner described how Tanner struggled to make friends and communicate with other children throughout his youth.
She noted that he often had meltdowns that she initially assumed were temper tantrums. When Tanner began experiencing bullying at school, he would act out violently by hitting himself in the head, though his mother insisted he never hit her or other people.
Diagnosis and Explanation
Tanner Horner was eventually diagnosed with ADHD and Asperger Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that can cause significant distress when daily routines are disrupted. In a letter to Athena Strand's family, Tanner appeared to blame his actions on this diagnosis.
He described how extreme stress from not being able to drive the exact same FedEx route every day contributed to his actions when he kidnapped and killed Strand. 'I'm sorry I allowed my mental state to be unstable. I'm sorry I took your little angel away from you. She didn't deserve it,' Tanner wrote, while also expressing concern about how his crime would affect his own family.
The Crime and Conflicting Accounts
Tanner Horner has claimed he accidentally struck Athena Strand with his FedEx truck while delivering Barbie dolls that were intended as her Christmas present in November 2022. He stated that he strangled her out of fear she would tell her parents about the accident.
He told the court he initially tried to break Athena's neck to kill her, and when that failed, strangled her with his bare hands while singing 'Jingle Bell Rock.' Prosecutors have called these claims 'an absolute lie' and presented evidence showing Athena was conscious and physically unharmed inside the truck before her death.
