'A Form of Torture': Inside One of America's Most Brutal Prisons Where FedEx Child Killer Tanner Horner Will Await Execution for Athena Strand's Murder
Tanner Horner will spend the rest of his life in one of the worst prisons in America.
May 8 2026, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
Tanner Horner thought that by confessing to the gruesome murder of seven-year-old Athena Strand, he could somehow be spared the death penalty and be sentenced to life in prison.
Horner was wrong. And now, after an emotionally draining sentencing trial, RadarOnline.com can report the former FedEx driver has been sent to one of the most brutal death rows in the nation while he waits for his lethal injection.
'Death Watch'
The Polunsky Unit is nicknamed the 'Death Watch'
Horner is now holed up in what is referred to as the "Death Watch" inside the Polunsky Unit, a specialized prison outside Houston for death row inmates. According to accounts from inside the facility, the 34-year-old is in for a harrowing time.
Inmates are housed in an all-solitary confinement wing and spend at least 22 hours a day in cramped 60-square-foot cells. They have no access to phones, televisions or contact visits from the outside world.
Horner’s cell consists only of a metal bunk and a thin mattress, a metal desk and a metal toilet and sink. A steel locker box under the bed is meant to house what little personal items he has, but previous inmates have complained that rotting sewage pipes "back up all the time," spewing raw sewage across the floors and into the containers.
'Torture Chamber'
Inmates have called it a 'psychological torture chamber.'
Each cell also has its own camera perched in the upper left-hand corner, with a view of the entire area, eliminating any chance of privacy. He will also be subject to hourly security checks, even overnight, making it impossible to get a good night's sleep.
Even when he is allowed outside, there are still significant restrictions on his freedom. During their daily "recreation" hour, inmates are segregated in different cages, minimizing the possibility of human contact.
One inmate has described the prison as a "psychological torture chamber," with multiple "dark" purposes.
"Texas is infamous for getting the maximum amount of suffering it can out of each taxpayer dollar," the death row inmate said.
Graphic Testimony
The FedEx driver kidnapped and killed the young girl after delivering some Christmas presents to her house.
Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on April 7, just as his trial was about to begin. Prosecutors earlier told jurors Horner abducted Strand while delivering a Christmas present before killing her and dumping her naked body in a creek.
His sentence came after weeks of emotional and often graphic testimony, including the playing of Strand's struggle with her captor caught on the deliveryman's truck camera.
Before playing the chilling audio of the young girl's final fight for her life, Wise County District Attorney James Stainton warned jurors, "You are going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child. And when I say it's horrible, I mean it. I've been doing this 25 years, and I promise you, buckle up."
Emotional Ending
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Jurors heard graphic audio of Athena Strand's struggle to stay alive.
The sentencing phase of the trial wrapped up with one final family member delivering a staggering message to the murderer.
"You will be judged. You will face the wrath of god," Strand's uncle said, wagging a finger at Horner as he spoke. "But I want you to know that you are nothing. You are a footnote in Athena's story."
Through tears, he scolded that his niece will be remembered and honored forever, unlike Horner.
"Everyone will forget you," he raged. "You wanted your 15 minutes of fame. You got it. And no one is going to remember you after this."
