WARNING: Story details below are disturbing and describe the circumstances of a child's death. Read with caution.
The FedEx driver accused of kidnapping and killing a 7-year-old girl says he strangled her after he accidentally backed into her with his truck.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5, Tanner Lynn Horner confessed to the crime and told police he accidentally hit 7-year-old Athena Strand while backing up in his marked delivery truck but that the young girl was not seriously injured.
He told investigators he panicked and put the girl into his van and that she was talking to him and told him her name was Athena.
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When the child said she was going to tell her father about being hit by the truck, Horner told police, he strangled the girl with his bare hands.
During the interview with detectives, Horner told police where he put her body.
According to the affidavit, FBI agents investigating the girl's disappearance learned of a package delivery that had been made to the family's home at about the time the girl was believed to have disappeared. They worked with FedEx to identify the contracting company, Big Topspin, whose driver made the delivery.
Crime and Courts
Investigators confirmed which van made the delivery and learned that it was equipped with video cameras recorded by a third-party vendor, Velocitor. That company provided investigators with the video that showed a driver taking a girl who looked like Athena into his van. The driver was also seen talking with the girl inside the van.
No further description of what was recorded inside the van was described in the affidavit.
After viewing the video, the driver was identified by authorities and interviewed before being arrested and charged.
Horner is being held on charges of kidnapping and capital murder of a person under the age of 10. He is being held in the Wise County Jail on bonds totaling $1.5 million. It's not clear if Horner has obtained an attorney.
On Thursday morning, Maitlyn Gandy, Athena's mother, showed the package that was delivered to the girl's father's home on Nov. 30.
It was a Christmas present for the 7-year-old, a box of "You Can Be Anything" Barbie dolls that her mother said she'll never get to open.
"Athena was robbed of the opportunity to grow up to be anything she wanted. And this present ordered out of innocence and love is one she will never receive," Gandy said. "I was robbed of watching her grow up by a man that everyone was supposed to be able to trust to do one simple task: deliver Christmas packages and leave."
A private funeral for Athena Strand will be held on Friday. She will be cremated and her mother said her remains will be taken with her back to Oklahoma.
