He ran her over, mounted her alive and killed her: Authorities say the FedEx driver accused of murdering a girl panicked

By Antonio Planas and Phil Helsel -

The FedEx driver accused of killing a 7-year-old girl in Texas panicked when he ran over the girl with his work van, after which he hauled her aboard and killed her, according to authorities.

Driver

, 31, charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, confessed to authorities that he loaded the girl

into the vehicle after running her over, according to an affidavit released Thursday.

Horner allegedly told investigators that the girl was not seriously injured when he accidentally ran over her.

The man also said he spoke to the girl in the car and she told him her name, according to the affidavit.

Athena Strand.KXAS

But he ended up killing her

,

because "she was going to tell her father that she had been hit by the FedEx truck that the defendant was driving."

He had gone to deliver a Christmas present

Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that Athena's mother, Maitlyn Gandy, claimed that Horner had gone to the house to deliver the girl's Christmas gift, a set of Barbie dolls, shortly before she was murdered.

“Athena was robbed of the opportunity to grow up to become what she would have wanted to be,” Gandy said, while at times breaking down in tears.

“He was supposed to take Athena to Oklahoma after Christmas break.

Now instead she will be cremated and come home in an urn because

.”

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The affidavit says that Athena's stepmother called 911 to report that the girl was missing from her home in Paradise, Wise County, on November 30 at about 6:41 pm (local time).

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The girl was reported missing less than an hour after her stepmother last saw her in her temporary bedroom, a converted storage shed she shared with her stepsister, according to the affidavit.

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Investigators said FedEx had delivered a package there around the time the girl went missing.

They were able to determine which van and driver made the delivery.

The FedEx truck was equipped with cameras.

The FBI analyzed the video evidence and

and that the driver was seen talking to her in the van," according to the affidavit.

"We have a confession"

Investigators were able to identify Horner as the driver.

After allegedly admitting that he had killed the girl, the defendant also reportedly told investigators where to find her: she was found in the water.

The suspect was arrested on Friday, two days after the disappearance of the girl, who was searched for by 200 community volunteers.

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Authorities found her body Friday southeast of the town of Boyd, about 7 miles from the scene, Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said.

"We have a confession

," Akin said at a news conference on Friday night.

Bail for Horner was set at $1.5 million.

It was not immediately clear Thursday night if Horner had an attorney.

FedEx has said in a statement that its thoughts are with the family, and that the company is fully cooperating with the investigation.

"Words cannot describe our shock and sadness at the reports surrounding this tragic event," the company said.