'Horrible' audio of Athena Strand, 7, being murdered will be played in court despite FedEx driver filmed abducting her pleading guilty to murder, as his icy final warning to her is revealed

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Hellish audio of a seven-year-old girl being strangled to death by a FedEx driver filmed abducting her will still be played to jurors despite him admitting her murder.

Athena Strand's final moments at the hands of Tanner Horner, 34, was captured by a microphone after he covered a camera on his truck following the November 2022 abduction in Fort Worth, Texas.

Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder on Tuesday, just before his trial was due to begin, with a nightmarish dash camera photo of Athena being driven to her death subsequently shown to the court. 

Jurors have been warned by Wise County prosecutors that they will still be presented with all the evidence in the case for the 'punishment phase' of the trial, which will see them decide whether Horner should be sentenced to death. 

Wise County District Attorney James Stainton said: '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.'

Jurors will be watching video and listening to audio files during Wednesday's hearing, with Horner said to have warned Strand: 'Don't scream or I'll hurt you' as he picked her up and put her in his truck. 

'I'm going to put you as close as you can be without actually being there that day. We have video of it and we're going to show it now,' Stainton told the jury.

Athena Strand is filmed being driven to her death by kidnapper Tanner Horner. He admitted the November 2022 murder in court Tuesday, with jurors warned they must still endure graphic evidence of the little girl's final moments so they can decide on an appropriate punishment  

Strand was snatched by Horner as he dropped off a package containing a Christmas gift for the youngster - a box of Barbie dolls  

Strand was snatched from her home by Horner after he delivered a box of Barbies that was to form part of her Christmas present in what appears to be a crime of opportunity.

Horner claimed he'd accidentally struck Strand with his truck and injured her, before strangling her and driving away with her body in a panic. 

But the photo taken from inside the truck shared with jurors showed the little girl very much alive, with DA Stainton branding Horner's excuse 'a web of lies.' 

Strand's body was driven seven miles away from her home by Horner, where it was dumped and found hours later.  

Stainton told jurors that Strand was uninjured when Horner put her into the vehicle.

'The first thing Tanner Horner says to Athena when he picks her up and puts her in that truck, he leans down and he says: "Don't scream or I'll hurt you." He says that twice,' Stainton said. 

The prosecutor said Strand fought Horner, and his DNA was found under her fingernails. He also said Horner's DNA was found 'in places where you shouldn't find DNA on a 7-year-old girl.' 

'The only truthful thing that Tanner Horner told law enforcement was that he killed her,' the prosecutor added. 'The pattern and web of lies that he put together, it's going to be hard for y'all to keep up with. It is lie upon lie upon lie upon lie.'

Horner pleaded guilty to capital murder of a child under 10 and aggravated kidnapping.

Horner is seen on Tuesday. His lawyers tried to blame his autism and exposure to lead as a child for Strand's murder  

The seven-year-old was kidnapped and strangled on November 30, 2022, by Horner, who was delivering gifts to her family home in North Texas 

Horner was delivering this You Can Be Anything Barbie to Strand's father and stepmother's house in Paradise, Texas, when he says he accidentally hit the girl with his truck, 'panicked,' grabbed her and put her in his vehicle

Strand's mother, Maitlyn Gandy, has vehemently supported the death penalty for her daughter's killer. She released a statement after Horner was indicted stating that 'every breath he takes is one my daughter doesn't.'

But Horner's attorney Steven Goble asked jurors to sentence him to life in prison.

In his opening statements, Goble pointed to Horner's physical ailments and mental illnesses.

While acknowledging that the evidence against Horner was 'overwhelming' and 'terrible,' he told jurors that Horner's mother drank while she was pregnant, that he has autism and suffered from 'various mental illnesses throughout his life.'

'When someone's brain is what's injured, you don't see it,' Goble said.

Horner was also exposed to a 'massive amount of lead' during his developmental years, he said, citing how the killer had 24 times the normal amount of lead in his bones.

'You don't have to be a scientist or doctor to know that lead has terrible effects on the brain,' Goble added.

Horner's trial resumes today at 9am local time (10am EST) with jurors expected to watch hours of footage, including Horner's interviews with police.