The retrial for Antonio “AJ” Armstrong Jr., the teen accused of killing his parents in 2016, is now scheduled for March.
Antonio Armstrong Jr.’s retrial was slated to begin Monday, but it was delayed.
In July 2016, when Armstrong Jr. was 16 years old, he was accused of shooting his parents Dawn and Antonio Sr. while they were asleep in their home in the 5300 block of Palmetto Street in southwest Houston. Armstrong was charged with capital murder.
Armstrong Jr. has maintained his innocence over the years, saying there was a masked person in the home who committed the murders. His defense team supported his claim, alleging that Houston police rushed to zero in on the teenager before conducting a thorough investigation of the couple’s deaths. The prosecution maintained that Armstrong Jr. was a convincing liar who killed his parents because he was angry with them for multiple reasons.After weeks of testimony in April, and more than 19 hours of deliberation, the jury said they could not reach a unanimous verdict in Armstrong Jr.’s case. In capital murder cases, it is required that the jury bring a unanimous verdict. He was released on bond but was required to wear an ankle monitor.
Armstrong Jr.’s attorneys said prosecutors lost an entire bag of evidence. They said the bag contained 22 items, including Armstrong Jr.’s cellphone.
Prosecutors fired back saying that no evidence in the case was lost.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement:
“Defense lawyers are once again lying to the public and potential jurors about the facts in the horrific murders of Dawn Armstrong and her husband, Antonio Armstrong Sr. Last April, the judge determined that any loss of evidence was ‘obviously, no fault of either party.’”