The former FedEx driver who admitted he murdered a seven- year-old girl in Paradise, Texas, told investigators he “tossed” her body when he disposed of it.

Thirty-four-year-old Tanner Horner  has pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in the 2022 death of Athena Strand, whom he initially claimed he accidentally hit with his delivery truck when he was delivering a package to her father’s home, Fox News reported Wednesday.

Jurors this week watched interrogation video of officers asking Horner about Strand’s whereabouts before they found her body and he told them he could show them the location.

In the video, Horner told an investigator, “I just tossed her in, like I couldn’t just keep running around with a kid in the back like that. I just tossed her in the bush or whatever you want to call it.”

It is now up to jurors to decide whether Horner will face the death penalty or a life sentence without parole.

Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin, who was working on the case, said in 2022 he would recommend the district attorney seek the death penalty for Horner, Breitbart News reported.

Horner’s defense team claimed in January he has autism and should therefore not face the death penalty.

In his opening statement on Tuesday, prosecutor James Stainton said Horner told Strand “Don’t scream or I’ll hurt you” when he put her in his van. “I’m going to tell you right now. One thing you’re going to hear that is something you can’t unhear is the level of fight that a 7-year-old girl has when she’s facing down a certain death,” he said.

“We have DNA. Not only do we have initial DNA from Athena that has Tanner Horner’s DNA under her fingernails. We also have Tanner Horner’s DNA in places where you shouldn’t find DNA on a 7-year-old girl,” Stainton continued. “We talk about warrior in America. I’ll tell you that little girl right there is a warrior. She fought with the strength of 100 men.”

Two months after he was arrested for Strand’s murder, a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 16 years old, WFAA reported Wednesday.

During Horner’s trial this week, a photo taken from inside his delivery truck shows him behind the wheel and Strand sitting or kneeling. The image appears to disprove his claim that he hit her with the vehicle:

Prosecutors said Horner covered a camera, threatened the girl, and attacked her inside the vehicle before dumping her body near Boyd and then returning to work as a massive search for her was launched.