“He’s just a ch!ld” — In deep anguish, Tanner Horner’s mother told the jury she is extremely angry with her s0n

The mother of killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner broke down sobbing while testifying she was furious at her son for strangling 7-year-old Athena Strand to death – but said she still loved him nonetheless.

“I’m so mad at him. I want to just tear his eyes out,” Horner’s mother testified through tears in a Texas courtroom Wednesday. “She was just a baby.”

“Of course I love my son,” she said. “I don’t love who did that though. I don’t know who that was.”

Delivery driver Tanner Horner plead guilty to kidnapping and strangling 7-year-old Athena Strand outside her home.FOX 4 DFW
The mother then broke down in tears, prompting the judge to call a recess.

Her 42-year-old son admitted to the Nov. 2022 slaying of the innocent girl, who he viciously strangled to death after kidnapping her during a package delivery.

Horner’s defense is trying to spare him the death penalty. He faces a minimum sentence of life in prison.

His mother spent her time on the stand recounting his volatile upbringing, which she said was shadowed by her severe addiction to numerous substances and history of being abused herself.

Defendant Tanner Horner reacts while listening to his mother testify at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.AP
She also testified that her son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and was bullied throughout his childhood.

Horner was also “excited” when he became a father himself, his mother told the jury, before admitting he was often “scared” of hurting the boy when taking care of him

But when she returned to the stand after being excused to recover from her breakdown, the mother became inconsolable again while recounting the moments Horner first told her he’d killed Athena.

“At first I believed what my son told me. That he had backed into a little girl, he panicked, and strangled her,” she said, recounting the same story Horner has stuck by even after admitting to Athena’s murder.

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The mother of killer FedEx driver Tanner Horner broke down sobbing while testifying.FOX 4 DFW
She then broke down in tears again and begged not to be jailed herself – though it remains unclear exactly why she feared incarceration.

“Don’t get me thrown in jail,” she said, then turned to the judge. “Am I going to go to jail for that?”

The mother began to sob then and was unable to answer any questions, with the judge excusing her from the hearing.

Horner’s defense has been trying to argue that his mental condition and rough upbringing should protect him from the death penalty.

Horner’s mother testified that her son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and was bullied throughout his childhood.FOX 4 DFW
But last week’s testimony — from the likes of Athena’s parents — showed a stark picture of the brutal murder.

Jurors watched footage from inside Horner’s FedEx truck from the moments of Athena’s killing, and saw her patiently asking him if he was a kidnapper as he drove away with her from her Paradise home.

He then threatened to hurt her if she wouldn’t be quiet and covered his cab’s camera — but the audio kept recording as he hauled her into the back of his van and strangled her with his bare hands as she screamed.

The radio in his truck then began playing “Jingle Bell Rock” during the attack — and he was heard singing along as he bashed her into the ground and crushed her throat, the stricken jury heard.

“Shut up,” he said as Athena could be heard moaning. “If you don’t shut up, I will hurt you worse.