The wife of convicted murderer AJ Armstrong JR cried in court and fled in tears as the father of her young child was sentenced to life in prison for the 2016 murder of his two parents.
The son of former NFL player Antonio Armstrong was found guilty of killing his parents as a 16-year-old in 2016. He will be given the option of parole after 40 years.
Armstrong Jr. reacted with little emotion when the guilty verdict was handed down Wednesday after two previous mistrials.
But attorney Rick Detoto said Armstrong’s wife and former high school sweetheart Kate Ober was “devastated” when she left court after sentencing.
“His family is amazing, and they’re obviously devastated right now, but they’re going to unite and they’re going to help AJ and his wife and his young son,” he told reporters.
After three trials, AJ Armstrong was convicted Wednesday of the 2016 murder of his parents
Wife Kate Ober was distraught as she left court surrounded by relatives after the verdict was handed down
He insisted the young father was innocent and revealed that he had already appealed.
“Over the past seven years, we’ve watched him grow from a 16-year-old to a young father and husband.
“He’s devastated, but he’s one of the strongest young men I’ve ever known.”
The Houston jury deliberated for about 10 hours after hearing more than 40 hours of testimony from 31 witnesses spanning 11 days during the capital murder trial.
Because he was a minor at the time of the murders, he did not face the death penalty.
Miya Shay a reporter for ABC13 said Armstrong was calm when he went to court to hear his fate.
“I even got into the elevator with AJ and he seemed very relaxed… You would never have thought, if you didn’t know what was at stake, that his life was on the line.”
Armstrong with the parents he was convicted of murder in their bed
Armstrong married girlfriend Kate Ober while on trial
The former childhood sweethearts have a young child together
Armstrong lived with his parents and younger sister in the Houston family home at the time of the murders. His older half-brother lived nearby
Armstrong Sr. was a former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.
AJ was charged with shooting both of his 42 parents seven years ago. In 2016, Dawn and Antonio Sr. each shot in the head, with pillows over their faces, as they slept in their Texas home.
Armstrong was arrested hours later. He was in his freshman year of high school at the time of the arrest.
In several trials since his arrest, prosecutors have tried to prove that AJ was practicing and planning to kill his parents.
Investigators said the then-teenager admitted to experimenting with muffling a gun with blankets and pillows.
A search of the family home also revealed that AJ had both a crack pipe and a pillow with bullet holes in his room.
Armstrong is now 23 and has worn a GPS ankle monitor throughout his adult life. He has been out on bail since 2017.
Between his second and third trials, Armstrong married his son’s mother, his high school girlfriend, Kate Ober.
Kate Ober, wife of Antonio Armstrong Jr., weeps as she listens to a guilty verdict in her husband’s trial on Wednesday at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse in Houston
AJ Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years
Armstrong Sr. was a former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL
Ober testified on behalf of Armstrong at his first trial.
Detectives have insisted for years that AJ is the only person who could have killed his parents.
The young man’s lawyers have tried to question that, even at one point trying to shift the blame to Armstrong’s older half-brother, Josh, as a potential suspect.
The state responded with text messages between Antonio Sr., Dawn, and Josh as evidence that prosecutors showed Josh was a loving son who had a normal relationship with his parents.
Josh was also not living with the family at the time of the murders.
On Tuesday, AJ also filed a federal lawsuit against the Houston Police Department, alleging that his officers allegedly planted evidence in an attempt to move forward with a false conviction.