A man has been convicted guilty of murdering both of his parents in their sleep and leaving a disturbing message at the scene.
Antonio “AJ” Armstrong Jr, now 23, was 16 when he gunned down and murdered his parents in their bed while they slept, then covered their faces with pillows and phoned 911 to say he heard gunshots.
Armstrong was found guilty after a jury deliberated for 10 and a half hours over the savage 2016 double murder in his third trial since his arrest seven years ago.
Armstrong, now married with children, has been living out of jail with an ankle bracelet since 2017 after two prior trials ended in a hung jury. While the decision was read aloud, Armstrong, the son of veteran NFL linebacker Antonio Armstrong Sr. and Dawn Armstrong, exhibited no emotion.
Kate Armstrong, his long-term girlfriend and wife, sobbed in the courtroom as the decision was read. His mother Dawn, 42, was shot twice in the head and proclaimed dead at the scene at their Houston home, while his father Antonio Sr, also 42, was transported to a hospital and subsequently died.
Armstrong Jr. left a foreboding letter on the kitchen counter, next to the murder weapon, a. 22-calibre revolver registered to his parents. “I have been watching you for a long time,” the message said. “Come get me,” the New York Post says.
Prosecutors claimed the same pistol was used to shoot a pillow and blanket through the floor of his bedroom approximately a week before the deaths and to light a fire outside his parents’ bedroom two days earlier. On his iPad, he had also looked up how to make a vehicle bomb.
He then claimed he saw a masked intruder leave his home, claiming detectives said the ‘intruder’ was six feet tall. Prosecutors claim he didn’t reveal anything until hours into the interview. The home’s security system revealed no evidence of anyone entering the house.
Armstrong had been expelled from high school for failing grades and consuming marijuana, for which he was chastised by his parents. Amstrong’s attorneys attempted to put doubt on the prosecutor’s argument, arguing his older brother, Josh, was a more plausible subject owing to his serious mental health concerns.
The defence claimed that throughout his spells at psychiatric facilities, physicians indicated that Josh felt he was both a god and the devil, but the prosecution refuted the allegation, claiming that Josh acquired mental health problems after his parents’ deaths, and most likely directly as a result of their murders.
Armstrong is not eligible for the death sentence since he was a kid when the crimes occurred. He has been condemned to life in jail with the option of release after 40 years.
