Tanner Horner sexually assaulted 2 teens years before killing Athena Strand: warrants
The former FedEx driver who pleaded guilty this month in the November 2022 capital murder of a 7-year-old girl was accused of sexually assaulting two other minors years prior, according to arrest warrant affidavits.
Two women contacted Fort Worth police about two months after the defendant, Tanner Horner, was arrested in the kidnapping and killing of Athena Strand in Wise County, according to three affidavits obtained April 8 by the Star-Telegram.
The women told detectives that Horner raped them in 2013 and 2014 when they were 16 years old, and that Horner, then age 22 or 23, was aware of the girls’ ages at the time of the assaults.
One woman told police that she and Horner were acquaintances and were hanging out with several other people at a home in December 2014, according to one of the affidavits.
At one point, after having too much to drink, the unnamed victim decided she wanted to go to bed, she told police. When she did so, Horner lay down next to her and began touching her without consent, she said. Hours later, the woman told police, she awoke to Horner restraining her and forcing intercourse.
The woman told detectives that she was so intoxicated that she could not move to make Horner stop, police wrote in the affidavit.
Horner previously victimized another teenager under similar circumstances in the summer of 2013, according to other affidavits. In those affidavits, police wrote, screenshots of messages between Horner and the teen show that Horner was aware the victim was underage at the time.
“Ya know I’ve never understood why people freak out over weird age gaps,” Horner wrote in one message.
In 2018, Horner attempted to forcibly kiss the victim at a bar, according to the documents. When the victim refused and resisted, Horner told her she was “more fun as a kid,” the affidavit states.
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Horner on the charges while he is being tried for a possible death penalty in the Athena Strand case, according to Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV.
Horner pleaded guilty on April 7 to capital murder in Athena’s death, and the jury at his trial will decide if he will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. The trial is being held in Tarrant County after a change of venue from Wise County.
Both women who accused Horner of sexual assault testified at his capital murder trial on April 14.
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 3:56 PM.
