The son of an NFL player has been sentenced after being found guilty of killing his parents.
On Aug. 17, Antonio “A.J.” Armstrong Jr. was sentenced to life for the 2016 murder of his parents Antonio Sr. and Dawn Armstrong. He has the possibility of parole after 40 years, according to FOX 26 Houston.
There were previously two mistrials in the case, and Armstrong Jr. did an interview with ABC13 Houston, published in January 2020, as he waited for one of the retrials.
“For me, it’s as simple as I didn’t do it,” Armstrong Jr. said. “As simple as that. I’ve been adamant about that since the moment everything happened, the moment I was on the phone [with 911] till this day, I’ve said I didn’t do it. I’ll never change from that because it’s true. For me, that’s the one thing I really want people to know because being in this situation is a constant reminder that someone would even think that is something I would even do, it hurts.”
In the trials, prosecutors said Armstrong Jr. put a pillow over his parents’ faces and shot them both, which Armstong Jr. denied. Prosecutors also said before the killings took place, Armstrong Jr. fired a practice shot into his bedroom floor, tried to burn the house and also looked up how to set up a car in order for it to blow up when it turns on.
The alarm system near Armstrong Jr.’s parents’ room went off at 1:09 a.m. Another alarm went off at 1:25 a.m. where the murder weapon was found and after 911 was called, the alarm was disarmed at 1:56 a.m. There were also blood specks on Armstrong’s shirt at the time of his arrest, according to FoxNews. Armstrong Jr. reportedly filed a lawsuit against the city of Houston over the specks of blood claim.
“I couldn’t believe that jury could find, with the evidence presented to them, could find my nephew guilty,” Harvey Armstrong, A.J.’s uncle, told FOX 26 Houston after the verdict. “I was crushed … it’s so unfair how the evidence was presented. They left out so much evidence that the city of Houston should be in [an] uproar.”
Armstrong Sr. played linebacker for the Miami Dolphins in 1995. At the time of his death, he owned a gym where he was a personal trainer. He was also a pastor and motivational speaker.
