On July 29, 2016, former American football linebacker Antonio Armstrong and his wife, Dawn Armstrong, were shot dead in their Houston home. Their son, 16-year-old AJ Armstrong, dialed 911, and when the police arrived, they discovered the lifeless bodies of the couple in their bed.
There was no sign of forced entry, and it didn’t take much for officials to suspect the 16-year-old. The following morning, the police took AJ Armstrong to HPD headquarters. They interviewed him for several hours and ultimately charged him with capital murder.
After several arguments, on August 16, 2023, the court found AJ Armstrong guilty of murdering his parents. He received a life in-prison sentence, with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
ABC will broadcast an episode about this tragic case on their show ABC 20/20. Titled “All American Murder“, it will air on Friday, December 15, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET.
The synopsis of All American Murder on Rotten Tomatoes reads, “When a Texas couple is murdered in their bed, authorities investigate whether the culprit is a masked intruder or someone closer to home.”
KPRC 2 recently spoke with the 24-year-old convicted parent murderer AJ Armstrong in prison. Separated by a glass, the interviewer and the convict communicated via a phone.
What did AJ Armstrong say in his first-ever interview since his conviction?
Armstrong explained how he felt excited and nervous when the court reached a verdict during his trial.
He stated, “For me, it was just a matter of, I was excited, honestly. I was like, we’re finally at a place. We’ve got a jury that has heard all the evidence, and they see the truth. And I believed that that was my chance to finally be done with all of this, not to have to ever be in a courtroom again and have to ever sit through another trial. I just felt that I was finally at that point of being able to move on with my life.”
He further said that when the court found him guilty, he at once turned towards his wife Kate and family to comfort them. He said, “I turned around immediately when I was walking out to look at her because I just wanted her to know that it was going to be okay. Like I love you, and I wanted them to see me be strong right in that moment because I knew what was coming and it was going to be tough.”
When the interviewer asked why he murdered his parents, he said that he was innocent, and stated, “I didn’t kill my parents. I would say falsely convicted, because I don’t believe the conviction was the result that should have happened. It should have been either another hung jury or a not-guilty verdict. There’s no way ever I would have in a million years imagined being here.”
AJ Armstrong has maintained his innocence from the very start. Furthermore, his wife, grandparents, sister, and other family members strongly believe that he did not kill his parents.
