Antonio “AJ” Armstrong Jr., the son of former NFL linebacker Antonio Armstrong, was found guilty of capital murder on Wednesday for shooting his parents in their sleep in 2016. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
The verdict came after more than nine hours of deliberation by the jury, who heard more than 40 hours of testimony from 31 witnesses over 11 days. The prosecution argued that AJ, who was 16 at the time of the crime, killed his parents, Antonio Sr. and Dawn Armstrong, with a .22-caliber pistol owned by his father, and then staged a break-in at their Bellaire-area home.
The defense claimed that AJ loved his parents and had no motive to kill them. They also questioned the credibility of the DNA evidence that was presented by the prosecution, which showed traces of blood under an adhesive name tag that AJ wore when he was questioned by the police on the night of the murders.
The defense alleged that the blood was planted by the Houston Police Department (HPD) in an effort to frame AJ and push for a false conviction. They pointed to the history of HPD fabricating evidence, such as in the infamous Harding Street raid in 2019 that left a couple dead and several officers injured.
On Tuesday, shortly after the jury went into deliberations, AJ filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Houston, accusing HPD officers of planting the blood evidence just days before his third trial was set to begin in June. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for violating AJ’s civil rights.
AJ’s first two trials ended in mistrials after the juries could not reach a unanimous verdict. His third trial was delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues.
AJ’s attorney, Rick DeToto, said his former client has already filed a notice of appeal, which notifies the judge that he plans to fight the conviction. DeToto said he would not be filing the appeal because he is not an appeals attorney. He said AJ’s family is currently looking for an appellate attorney.
“We will not ever stop fighting for AJ,” DeToto said. “We will be here always for him and his family. His family will not stop fighting for AJ, they will continue through an appeal and whatever comes after that.”
