Everyone in the Texas courtroom, where the trial is being held for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand, by a courier who was supposed to deliver her Christmas present, was shocked when they heard the audio document of her final moments and her dialogue with her kidnapper and killer.

Athena was heard repeatedly asking “Are you a kidnapper?” of confessed killer Tanner Horner in the sickening and heartbreaking footage of her final moments shown to the jury on Thursday.

Horner – who pleaded guilty to the girl's murder last week and now faces the death penalty – responded by ordering Athena to sit down and be quiet and threatened to hurt her if she didn't, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

The video was filmed from inside the commercial truck in November 2022, the fateful day.

(This video shows Tanner Horner stopping at a gas station to clean his van after killing Athena)

Horner was alone in the truck at first, but then apparently stopped at Athena's house and grabbed her from the street - with the video showing him walking back to his truck with Athena following behind and then the truck door opening with her standing at his side.

Then he puts her in the truck, gets behind the wheel, and drives away while Athena starts asking him if he's a kidnapper.

Instead of answering, Horner started talking to her about the school and her teachers.

Horner eventually covered the truck's camera, leaving the courtroom to hear only the audio of the horror that was about to unfold.

“You're really beautiful. Do you know that?” he said at one point, before the truck seemed to have stopped.

"Is this your house?" Athena then asked.

“No. I don’t live around here,” he replied, and when asked where he lived, Horner said “far away.”

"What are we going to do?" Athena then asked.

“We spend time together,” he said.

"Okay".

But within minutes Horner was heard telling Athena to take off her shirt, with the girl replying "no" and asking for her mother.

Then he started crying and screaming, while noises could be heard from the truck.

Jurors burst into tears when the video ended, while Athena's family members left the courtroom as the video was playing, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

The judge warned the courtroom before the clip was broadcast that what they were about to see was extremely disturbing. Live broadcasts of the hearing were also cut off before the clip was broadcast.

"If you think you can't see or hear him, leave now. Now is your time to come out," said Judge George Gallagher.

Horner faces life in prison or the death penalty, with a jury deciding his fate after he pleads guilty.

He claimed that he had accidentally hit Athena with his truck while delivering a package and that he had picked her up and killed her – strangling her with his bare hands – out of fear that she would find out.

Prosecutors rejected his claims, calling them complete lies.

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