The son of ex-American National Football League player Antonio Jr Armstrong, 23, has been found guilty of murdering his parents, Dawn and Antonio Sr, at their family’s southwest Houston home in 2016.
Armstrong Jr was found guilty after the Houston jury deliberated for about 10 hours and heard more than 40 hours of testimony from 31 witnesses spanning 11 days during the capital murder trial, Daily Mail reported on Thursday.
The convict, who was 16 at the time of committing the murder, was sentenced to life imprisonment and will have the possibility of parole after 40 years.
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AJ was charged with shooting his parents in July 2016, Dawn and Antonio Sr, both 42, were each shot in the head with pillows placed over their faces, while asleep in their southwest Houston home.
Armstrong Jr married Kate Ober, his high school girlfriend with whom he shares a son during the seven years of the committed offence and today’s guilty verdict.
His defense attorney, Rick Detoto said, “My client is devastated. He’s one of the strongest young men I’ve ever known. His family is amazing, and obviously, they are devastated right now.”
“This is a difficult time for them, but they will rally and they will help AJ and his young son and his wife get through this.”
Armstrong was arrested while entering his junior year of high school. Investigators said that he admitted to experimenting with how to silence a gun with blankets and pillows and 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 Sr. was a former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.