HOUSTON — The third day of Antonio Armstrong Jr.'s third capital murder trial started with the prosecution breaking down the accused killer's 911 call and interview with investigators after his parents were shot.
Interview
Wednesday started with Houston Police Department Lt. Jimmy Dodson on the stand talking about his interview with Armstrong Jr. the morning after the shootings. Dodson was one of two officers that interviewed the then-16-year-old at HPD headquarters.
The interview was recorded and part of it was played back during the trial.
Armstrong Jr. told the detectives he heard gunshots, but initially didn't say anything about an intruder. Dodson said the first time he mentioned an intruder was six hours after the shootings. Armstrong Jr. told the detectives he saw the masked intruder running away and he felt bad because he "should have done something."
Unprompted, Armstrong Jr. told the detectives that the last time he used a gun was when he was 8, but when they brought up the bullet hole that was found in the floor of his room, Armstrong Jr. contradicted that statement by telling them that a few weeks prior to the shootings he was playing with his dad's gun and fired it into the floor.
"I laid the pillow over it and blanket under it and thought it would stop it, but I guess it didn’t," he said.
Dodson said that people without experience with firearms usually test-fire a weapon before using it.
"We see it a lot with suicides, and we see it with younger offenders," Dodson said.
During the interview, Armstrong Jr. continually denies being responsible for the deaths of his parents.
"I know I didn't personally touch the gun," he said.
Later in the interview, Armstrong Jr. implied that his father could have put a "hit" out on his mother. The prosecution said it was odd that he made the claim since it suggested that he knew his mother was shot first, which no one had told him up to that point.
On the stand, Dodson said the statement came "out of nowhere."
The detectives told Armstrong Jr. that either he or his sister shot his parents. They also said he sounded very calm on the 911 call, which they said wasn't normal.
"Even though it looks impossible, I had nothing to do with it. I don’t know what else to say," Armstrong Jr. told them as the interview came to an end.
Dodson said Armstrong Jr. was "very happenstance, very stoic" during the interview. He said the teen was not emotional at all, even after they told him that his mother was dead. Dodson also said Armstrong Jr. never circled back to the masked man he supposedly saw in the house.
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Defense questions detective
During cross-examination, defense attorney Rick DeToto pressed Dodson about focusing almost entirely on Armstrong Jr. at the murder scene.
Dodson admitted he only interviewed Armstrong Jr.'s older brother Josh for four minutes outside the victims' home that night. Josh no longer lived with the family and was at his girlfriend's when Armstrong Jr. called to tell him about the shooting. He rushed to the scene with a cousin.
"He was upset. His parents had just been murdered," Dodson said when asked about Josh's demeanor during the interview. "He was irritated because he wanted information that we couldn't give him."
DeToto also criticized investigators for failing to question the cousin who came to the house with Josh that night.
"He was there to support Josh," Dodson said.
That cousin has since died.
When asked why they didn't search the garage or attic, Dodson said "I followed where the evidence was leading me."
The detective also confirmed he didn't see any blood on Armstrong Jr. when he interviewed him at HPD headquarters.
911 call
Armstrong Jr. called 911 after the shootings. He said he called from his bedroom closet and told the dispatcher that he heard two gunshots coming from his parent's room. He also said the door to his parents' bedroom was cracked open, which he said was out of the ordinary.
Armstrong Jr. also told the dispatcher that he wasn't good with guns, even though the dispatcher didn't ask him about that.
He also said his dad usually kept his gun in the drawer next to his bed and he was hearing a loud, high-pitched noise, which Dodson said was consistent with someone firing a weapon without ear protection.
At one point during the call, Armstrong Jr. said, "It's all my fault."
Armstrong Jr. was charged later that night.
Background
Below is the background of the case and reports from the first two mistrials.
2016 killings
On July 29, 2016, investigators said they believe Armstrong Jr. shot his parents at close range while they slept inside the Bellaire-area home.
According to authorities, Dawn Armstrong was shot twice in her head and Antonio Armstrong Sr. was shot once. They said both had pillows over their heads. Dawn was pronounced dead at the scene while Armstrong Sr. was taken to a hospital where he later died. Both were 42.
Houston Police Sgt. J.P. Horelica said after discovering there was no forced entry and a bullet hole in the ceiling of the Armstrongs' bedroom, the focus shifted to Armstrong Jr. as a suspect. Brewer said a .22-caliber pistol was found on the kitchen counter along with a note. Also, Brewer said an upstairs motion detector caught movement at 1:09 a.m. Brewer said police found three shell casings in the master bedroom.
“The alarm tells us more than just the killer came from inside the house. The alarm tells us that the killer came from upstairs,” Brewer said when KHOU 11 News covered the story in 2019.
Armstrong Sr. was a motivational speaker. He and his wife owned 1st Class Training in Bellaire. Armstrong Sr. played football for Texas A&M and the Miami Dolphins and coached both of his sons when they were younger. Antonio Sr. was also an associate pastor, according to police. Dawn Armstrong's Facebook page said they "serve in ministry together."
First trial
Armstrong Jr.'s first murder trial began on April 2, 2019. He was tried as an adult and faced life in prison if found guilty. Due to Armstrong Jr.'s age at the time of the crime, a conviction would mean automatic life in prison with a minimum of 40 years to be eligible for parole.
During the first trial, Armstrong Jr. entered a not-guilty plea before opening statements. The initial trial ended in a mistrial on April 26, 2019, when jurors weren't able to reach a unanimous decision in the case.
Second trial
A judge declared a mistrial in the second capital murder trial of Armstrong Jr. in October 2022 after jurors deliberated for nearly 18 hours but couldn't agree on a unanimous verdict.
Defense attorneys said then that eight jurors believed Armstrong was innocent and four thought he was guilty. In his first trial, it was the other way around with eight jurors believing he was guilty.