Texas teen accused in deaths of NFL player dad & mom was angry about discipline

A.J. Armstrong Jr. is currently undergoing trial for capital murder on charges killing his parents, Dawn and Antonio Armstrong, when he was 16 years old.

Brianna Rhodes

Apr 18, 2019

Text messages between a Houston, Texas, teenager and his parents revealed that they were “disappointed” in him for his performance in school a few months before reportedly he shot and killed them in 2016, according to The Daily Mail.

The teen, A.J. Armstrong Jr. is currently undergoing trial for capital murder on charges killing his parents, Dawn and Antonio Armstrong, when he was 16 years old. They were found shot to death in their bed on July 29, 2016. He is being tried as an adult in the case.

Prosecutors showed text message exchanges on Wednesday in court between Armstrong and his parents. The texts date back to up to 10 months before the murders, ABC 7 Chicago reports.

Nathan Gates, a Harris County District Attorney’s Office investigator, provided the evidence along with activity reports from phones and iPads. He also had messages from July 28, 2016, a day before the shootings.

In the messages, his parents detailed their disappointment in Armstrong for his grades in school and his dishonesty about his whereabouts.

“He is a bold face liar like I have never seen before,” Dawn Armstrong wrote in a text sent to her son and husband. The mom wrote the statement after she found that her son was being untruthful about attending basketball practice.

The parents also criticized their son for his low grades in school, spending money, smoking marijuana in their house and other incidents.

Armstrong was even kicked out of The Kinkaid School, but administrators and coaches have testified that he wasn’t readmitted because of his performance.

‘I’m not even going to try and say sorry for everything because right now I know my word doesn’t mean anything to you guys,’ the teen said in one text conversation.

“I put myself in the absolute worst possible position with not only school but with the way you guys think about me. I know that I have gone to another level with my actions and know I need a major life change right now.”

His mother wrote she was beyond disappointed in an exchange.

“All you do is lie to us, scheme behind our back,” she said.

His father also added that they paid a lot of money for tutors but he said it was a waste of time.

The couple owned a small chain of fitness centers. Armstrong played briefly in the NFL and also for Texas A&M. He also served as an assistant pastor at his mother’s church.