According to ABC News, Antonio “A.J.” Armstrong, Jr., the son of Antonio Armstrong, who played for the Miami Dolphins back in 1995, will be heading to trial for a third time after two trials that ended in hung juries. A.J. has been accused of killing his father and mother, Dawn Armstrong in 2016. They were both killed in their sleep in their residence in Houston.
A 20/20 special from last week, hosted by Matt Gutman, chronicled the case and can now be viewed on Hulu.
“AJ Armstrong has maintained his innocence in his parents’ 2016 deaths but remains charged following two criminal trials that have ended with hung juries,” 20/20 tweeted.
On July 29, 2016, police received a call from then-16-year-old A.J. saying that he heard gunshots coming from his parents’ room. First responders got to the scene and found the Armstrongs in bed with gunshot wounds to their heads.
Their son told police officers that he saw someone in a mask in the home when the crime took place.
“Yeah like I saw him running. Like I saw him running,” A.J. stated he told investigators during the interview.
Investigators did not believe him, as they didn’t find any forced entry or evidence of an intruder inside the house. No alarm went off at the time and it was still armed when first responders arrived at the scene, according to audio from the interview. It was noted that A.J. was the one who disarmed the alarm so that police officers could enter the house, according to court documents.
The now-23-year-old has always and still states that he did not kill his parents. Yet, prosecutors are still trying to tie him to the crime.
“There’s no way possible. I couldn’t even fathom the idea of killing my parents,” A.J. expressed to Gutman in last week’s interview on 20/20.
After the first trial in 2019, jurors were deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. A second trial took place in October 2022 and that jury was also deadlocked, with eight votes to acquit him and four to convict.
Judge Kelli Johnson declared a mistrial.
The Shadow League reported that the next trial will take place next month. Jury selection will start on February 24, with planned testimonies going down on March 20. His grandparents have asked the court to drop the charges.