HOUSTON — The fate of Antonio "AJ" Armstrong Jr. is in the hands of a Harris County jury after both sides made their closing arguments in the capital murder retrial on Monday.
Armstrong was 16 when prosecutors said he shot and killed his parents, Antonio and Dawn Armstrong, while they slept in their Bellaire home in 2016.
His first trial in 2019 ended with a mistrial due to a hung jury.
On Monday, family members and friends supporting Armstrong packed the downtown Houston courtroom for more than two and a half hours of closing arguments.
“This case is a parent’s worst nightmare, to come to the realization that the person you brought into this world would end your life,” prosecutor Ryan Trask said.
Prosecutors said alarm records and other evidence proves that whoever killed Antonio Armstrong Sr. and Dawn Armstrong came from inside the house. They were killed with Armstrong Sr.'s gun.
“If officers arrive at that scene with the doors locked, the garage down, the windows closed, the murder weapon still in the home and they don’t assume it’s this defendant, they should take their badges away,” prosecutor John Jordan said.
Prosecutors also said AJ "test-fired" the same gun into a pillow and tried to light a fire inside the home shortly before the murders.
“He’s clearly experimenting with ways to kill his parents,” Trask said.
After the killings, a prosecutor said AJ gave inconsistent statements to police.
The defense pushed back.
“(Holds up trash can) This is a garbage can. The alarm records are that. (throws them in the bin). Garbage,” defense attorney Chris Collings said.
Armstrong's lawyers said there's no blood, DNA, fingerprints or gunshot residue linking AJ to the murders.
“Where are the wet towels, the wet sinks, the wet showers, anything that would show that somebody cleaned themselves off or tried to hide evidence? It’s not there,” Collings said.
AJ's defense has cast suspicion on AJ's older brother, who lived nearby, had access codes to the home and suffered from mental illness.
“When he says he witnessed his parents being murdered, that’s what it means,” defense attorney Rick Detoto said.
If convicted, AJ would be sentenced to life in prison and would be eligible for parole after 40 years. He's not eligible for the death penalty due to his age at the time of the crime.
