TERRIFYING: Before his brutal attack on Athena Strand, FedEx driver Tanner Horner had targeted another girl of the same age who was Athena’s neighbor. CCTV footage from the girl’s home was provided to the court; Horner deserves to rot in hell

The sentencing trial of Tanner Horner has peeled back the layers of a monster, revealing that the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand was not an isolated “accident,” but the culmination of years of predatory behavior and a calculated pattern of escalation.

As the jury deliberates between life in prison and the death penalty, new testimony and evidence have shed light on Horner’s dark history—and the missed warning signs that could have changed everything.

The Trial Before the Trial: The Day Before the Abduction

Startling information has emerged regarding an encounter just 24 hours before Athena was taken. Witnesses and court discussions have highlighted a chilling incident involving a neighbor’s daughter, also around Athena’s age.

On that day, Horner reportedly pulled into a driveway and, in a move that suggests premeditation, placed a sticker over his FedEx truck’s camera lens before interacting with the child. He was seen attempting to engage the young girl in conversation, allegedly asking if her parents were home—a classic tactic used by predators to gauge a child’s vulnerability.

The girl’s father, sensing something was “off,” stepped outside, causing Horner to quickly retreat with a flimsy excuse about not wanting to “ruin a Christmas surprise.” This moment of quick-thinking deception shows Horner was of sound mind and capable of manipulating situations to avoid detection.

“Why would a grown man ever ask a little girl if her parents were home? That in itself is a red flag… his immediate reaction to cover his tracks shows he is able to come up with lies on the fly.”

A History of Silenced Victims

While Horner initially tried to frame Athena’s death as a panic-induced tragedy following a minor vehicle accident, his past tells a different story. In April 2026, two women took the stand to testify that Horner had sexually assaulted them years prior, when they were only 16 years old.

One witness, fighting back tears, expressed the heavy burden of “survivor’s guilt,” stating:

“I have felt guilt, due to the fact that if I had reported, things may not have happened to other people.”

These allegations suggest that Horner had been operating under the radar for a decade, his predatory nature potentially known—or at least sensed—by those closest to him.

New charges have been filed against Tannner Horner, the man who recently pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Athena Strand.

As we heard last week during testimony, before Athena’s murder, two women took the stand and shared that Horner was a predator toward them when they were teens and he was an adult.

One woman told the court she was 16 when she met Horner through mutual friends. She testified that in the summer of 2013, while she was intoxicated, he sexually assaulted her twice. She said he was significantly older than her and knew she was underage, even telling her to lie about her age and say she was 18 if anyone asked.

After the first incident, she said she made it clear she did not want any kind of relationship with him, but she claims the behavior continued and that he assaulted her again months later.

A second woman also testified that she, too, was a teenager when Horner assaulted her. She said it happened after a social gathering when she had fallen asleep, describing how she froze and felt unable to respond in the moment.

Neither woman reported the allegations at the time out of fear and embarrassment, and only came forward after Horner’s arrest in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Athena Strand to help investigators understand what kind of man they were dealing with.

Those allegations have since led to formal charges, with Horner now indicted in Tarrant County on sexual assault of a child related to them.

Prosecutors are presenting this testimony as part of the broader case being considered by the jury, which will ultimately decide whether he receives life in prison or the death penalty. With these additional charges, prosecutors are also seeking accountability and justice for the two survivors who were victimized when they were young and vulnerable.

“I Know How You Get”: The Family’s Complicity?

Perhaps most disturbing are the recorded jailhouse phone calls between Horner and his mother. In these conversations, the tone is not one of shock, but of weary familiarity. When Horner denied doing anything “weird” to Athena, his mother responded with a phrase that has haunted the courtroom: “I didn’t think you did, I just know how you get.”

This suggests that Horner’s family was aware of his “tendencies” long before he ever set foot in Paradise, Texas. The nonchalant nature of these calls—asking if the child “died on her own” while remaining calm in the face of a murder confession—raises serious questions about how much was ignored or covered up over the years.

Red Flags and the Cost of Silence

The trial serves as a grim reminder of the importance of trusting one’s intuition. Had the neighbor reported the sticker on the camera lens or the suspicious questioning to FedEx, the company might have intervened before Horner reached Athena’s driveway.

As Horner’s defense tries to paint a picture of a man who suffered a “breakdown,” the prosecution continues to point toward the sticker, the singing, and the previous victims. These aren’t the signs of a man who snapped; they are the hallmarks of a predator who finally found a window of opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

Tanner Horner’s trial is expected to conclude within the coming weeks, finally bringing a legal end to a tragedy that has left a permanent scar on Wise County.