MOM of Athena Strand’s killer told him, “I just know how you get,” in one of the most chilling moments yet from the trial over 7-year-old Athena Strand’s murder.

The haunting line came after Tanner Horner denied doing anything sexual to the little girl he had already admitted to kidnapping and killing.

A young girl in a truck looking at a man sitting in the driver's seat.
A terrifying image captures Athena moments before she was killedCredit: KDFW
 

A man in a grey shirt with a bald head sits with his chin resting on his hand, looking intently forward.
Tanner Horner denied doing anything sexual to the little girlCredit: KDFW

A young girl with blonde pigtails and a striped pink and yellow dress smiles at the camera.
Athena vanished from her family’s property in Paradise on November 30, 2022Credit: Katherine Scheidle
 

A handwritten letter on lined paper signed by Tanner Horner.
Horner allegedly wrote in jail before a 2023 suicide attemptCredit: KDFW
In Fort Worth, Texas, jurors are now hearing the punishment phase of the case as they decide whether the former FedEx driver should be sentenced to death or spend life in prison without parole.

Horner pleaded guilty last week to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Athena’s 2022 death, meaning the trial is now focussed only on punishment.

The new testimony came Monday when prosecutors played jail calls Horner made to his mother, grandmother and girlfriend after his arrest.

In one call, his mother asked him what had happened during the deadly encounter, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

“What did you do? Did she die on her own?” she asked. Horner answered: “No.”

After hearing that, his mother replied, “Oh my God,” before turning to an even darker question.

“Tanner, I just hope you didn’t do nothing weird to that little girl,” she said.

When he told her he had not, she answered, “Okay. I didn’t think you did. I just know how you get.”

Horner then told her, “Well, actually with my medication, I barely even have a libido as it is.”

In another call, his grandmother asked if he was remorseful.

Horner replied, “How can I not be? I haven’t been on my medication for the last few weeks, and I am feeling emotional.”

He then broke down while talking about missing Christmas with his young son.

Jurors were also shown letters Horner allegedly wrote in jail before a 2023 suicide attempt.

In one note to Athena’s family, he wrote, “I’ve done a terrible thing to your family, and I’m sorry,” and said they would never get to see their “baby girl grow up.”

He also blamed his “breakdown” on his inability to handle route changes at work and said unpredictable changes were hard for him because of Asperger’s syndrome, Fox affiliate KDFW reported.

But in a separate letter to detectives, Horner gave a completely different story, claiming a mystery gunman forced him to take Athena and threatened his family.

Medical examiner Dr Jessica Dwyer also took the stand and said Athena died from blunt force injuries, smothering and strangulation.

Dwyer said Athena’s body showed no sign of sexual trauma, but she warned jurors that it did not rule out the possibility of an assault.

She described injuries to the child’s head, face, neck, chest and back, along with evidence of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma from multiple blows.

The medical examiner also said there was a zigzag or tread-like pattern in the injuries on Athena’s face and chest.

Prosecutors say Horner’s original claim that he accidentally hit Athena with his truck and panicked was a lie, and that video showed the little girl was alive inside his delivery vehicle after he took her.

Athena vanished from her family’s property in Paradise on November 30, 2022, while Horner was delivering a Christmas package to the home.

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Her body was found two days later.

Horner’s lawyer has centred their push for a life sentence on his mental state, saying he has autism, other mental illnesses, and a history that they argue should spare him the death penalty.

A young girl with blonde pigtails in a white and yellow floral dress smiles next to an adult woman with purple-streaked hair.
Maitlyn Gandy previously provided a statement about the death of her seven-year-old daughterCredit: KDFW
 

A man in a purple and black shirt is being led away by a sheriff's deputy.
Horner pleaded guilty last week to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Athena’s 2022 deathCredit: KDFW