Killer FedEx Driver Tanner Horner's Mom Rages 'I'm So Mad at Him' and Reveals His Dark Childhood — As He Faces Possible Death Sentence for Murder of Athena Strand
Tanner Horner's mom shared insight about her son, who killed 7-year-old Athena Strand.
April 23 2026, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Tanner Horner's mother told a packed courtroom she began to notice early on that he was "different" from other children, RadarOnline.com can report.
The distraught mother and other family members have been testifying in the former FedEx driver's sentencing trial, where he faces either life in prison or death for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand.
Early Signs of a Killer?
A jury is hearing arguments on whether Horner should live or die.
Horner's mother, who did not want to share her name and asked that her face be blurred on camera, spoke about her and her son's tough childhoods.
She said he often had meltdowns when he was younger, which she just assumed were temper tantrums. But when he started getting bullied in school, he would act out violently by hitting himself in the head – but never her or other people.
"They kept telling me it was ADHD, but it wasn't," she said about Horner's doctors. "They were always trying to treat him for something he didn't have.
"The medicine would always change him and make him something he wasn't."
Horner's mom did not want to reveal her name or identity on camera.
As for her own upbringing, the mother testified that she dropped out of high school around ninth grade and struggled with addiction for years.
"I don't remember having dreams," she said on the stand. "I didn't have a good childhood."
She said her stepfather abused her and "tried to have s--" with [her] when she was just four. To cope, she turned to drugs and alcohol and worked as a stripper for nearly a decade.
She recalled that she met Horner's now-deceased father, Terry, when she was 17, and he was 29. She shared that the night they met, he invited her to his room, only to later knock her unconscious and "raper her" after she resisted his advances.
'She Was Just a Baby'
She said she loves her son, but not 'who did that.'
According to witnesses inside the courtroom, Horner’s mother broke down in tears when the defense began asking her about Athena's murder.
"Are you angry with Tanner?" the attorney asked.
"I'm so mad at him. I want to just tear his a-- up," she cried. "She was just a baby."
The defense attorney followed that up by asking, "Mrs. Horner, in spite of everything you know about this case, do you still love your son?"
This led to more tears from the mom.
"Of course, I love my son," she said. "I don't love who did that, though. I don't know who that was."
Tanner Horner's Last Hope
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Horner killed the young girl in his truck then dumped her body in a creek.
Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping on April 7, just as his trial was about to begin. Jurors are now tasked with sentencing him.
Prosecutors earlier told jurors Horner abducted Strand while delivering a Christmas present before killing her and dumping her naked body in a creek.
A forensic expert testified, "When police found Strand's body, she had markings pressed into her face that matched the floor of Horner's FedEx vehicle."
Medical examiner Jessica Dwyer said, "Strand was found naked in the water with her hands covered by plastic bags," adding there were "no signs of sexual trauma."
Dwyer also testified the child's body showed "trauma to her head, neck, chest, and back."
Investigators later recovered her body from waist-deep water in the creek where she had been dumped.
