Tanner Horner Claimed He Killed Athena Strand After She Saw Him “Snorting Cocaine"

FedEx driver Tanner Horner allegedly told a forensic psychiatrist that he abducted Athena Strand after she caught him “snorting cocaine,” according to court testimony.

Dr. Eileen Ryan, who took the stand April 28 in Horner’s on-going sentencing trial, testified that Horner told her that he had been delivering a package to Strand’s Wise County, Texas home on Nov. 30, 2022 when the 7-year-old saw him doing drugs and he panicked. 

"He immediately jumped to the conclusion that, that Athena saw him snorting cocaine. And so, she was going to tell and he was going to lose his job, which meant that he was not going to be able to support his son,” Ryan told the jurors, according to Fox 4. “He was going to lose his son. And that couldn't happen. And he's been sort of laser focused on his son for a long time.”

Ryan—a professor of psychiatry and behavior health at the Ohio State University College of Medicine—said that after realizing the child saw him, Horner was “having trouble” thinking and eventually decided to put Strand into his FedEx truck as his “catastrophizing” continued, according to the testimony.

“Once he was convinced that he was going to lose his job because of Athena seeing him do this, he kind of didn't know what to do,” she said. “And so he said…’there’s something in the truck.’”

Horner pled guilty to kidnapping and killing the 7-year-old then disposing her body in the river. Jurors are now tasked with determining whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

As the defense lays out their case, Ryan was called to explain Horner’s alleged thinking at the time of the crime.

She testified, per Fox 4, that Horner told her the situation quickly “snowballed into an avalanche.” 

“And he then said that he knew he had to kill her. And he tried to make it, as he put it, as painless and quick as possible,” she testified. “So he tried to, as he put it, I think it was snap her neck. But it's not like in the movies. And it wasn't working, and so he attempted to strangle her, and he had a number of attempts to strangle her, which were unsuccessful.”

Though he initially denied killing Strand during her conversation with him, Ryan said Horner eventually admitted to carrying out the killing, a sign that she believed suggested “he was deeply ashamed,” Fox 4 reported.

Ryan also testified that Horner had been diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder, autism spectrum disorder, major depressive disorder, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. 

Although she told the jurors that none of the diagnoses prevented Horner from knowing right from wrong or caused him to commit the murder, combined she believed they showed he was a “severely compromised individual."

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Jurors also heard from Dr. Amy Fritz, a speech pathologist called by the defense who testified that Horner had “significant difficultly with social appropriateness” and ability to understand others’ perspectives.

"If your cause to action is to abduct a child and kill them because you think they may have seen you do cocaine, you are definitely not understanding their perspective," she testified per Fox 4. "And at the same time, it hypothetically could be a triggering event.”

Still, Fritz admitted that seeing the footage captured by the FedEx truck of Horner interacting with the child and killing her was disturbing.

“I think the violence of it was really incongruent with the gentleman that I met,” she said, per WFAA. “It was shocking. It was horrific. It’s awful and I’m so sorry.”

Throughout the investigation, Horner has provided differing accounts of why he killed Strand. Shortly after his arrest, he told investigators that he accidentally struck Strand with his truck and panicked. 

Then later claimed his alter ego named “Zero” was responsible for the death.

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Texas Ranger Job Espinoza testified earlier in the trial that investigators played into Horner’s claim and addressed him as “Zero” to get him to confess to the crime, per KERA News.

“I played his game, and I spoke to Zero,” Espinoza said on the stand. “Ultimately, it’s about locating Athena and getting the truth, and whatever he wants to be called, I’m willing to do that as long as it means actually getting to the truth.”

The defense will continue to lay out their case for life in prison as the sentencing trial continues this week.