Who's who in trial of AJ Armstrong, man found guilty in parents' 2016 murders

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- After two days of deliberations, a jury found AJ Armstrong guilty of the 2016 murder of his parents. He will now serve a life sentence, with a possibility of parole after 40 years.

Armstrong was convicted on Aug. 16 of killing his parents, Dawn and Antonio Armstrong Sr., on July 29, 2016. A.J. found their bodies on the second-floor bedroom of their home on Palmetto at Mapleridge in the southwest Houston area and called 911.

The case spiraled into a seven-year saga, including two mistrials. The first mistrial was declared in 2019 because the jury could not reach a unanimous agreement. Eight jurors believed he was guilty, but four voted not guilty. A second mistrial came down in October 2022. In that case, eight jurors believed he was not guilty, and four believed he was.

The video above is from a previous report.

It all lead up to the third trial in 2023, which resulted in a guilty verdict.

Here's a breakdown of who's who in the case.

AJ ARMSTRONG JR.

Armstrong, now 23, was 16 years old when his parents were shot and killed in 2016. As the case began unfolding that night, investigators said he called 911 to report hearing gunshots from his parents' room. Armstrong was then taken into custody at the scene, questioned, and then charged with capital murder.

Records state Armstrong was kicked out of Kinkaid School in 2016 due to poor grades. Following that, he was set to play football at Lamar High School in the fall of 2016, but he never started school due to being charged in the case.

During an interrogation, Armstrong told police he saw a masked man running from the house while he was on the stairs, but records state he did not mention the masked man during his call to 911.

For the trials, prosecutors used alarm records of the night to suggest the alleged killer came from inside the house. Records show the family's home alarm was set, and the door was locked at 9:52 p.m. The alarm was turned off, and the door was unlocked when police arrived at the home at 1:46 a.m.

Since the start of the yearslong case, Armstrong has only given two interviews. Both were to ABC13.

ANTONIO ARMSTRONG SR. AND DAWN ARMSTRONG

Antonio Sr., was a former football star at Texas A&M University and an NFL linebacker. ESPN records show he played with the Miami Dolphins in the 1995-1996 season.

When the couple was shot in 2016, Dawn was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities said she was shot twice behind her ear.

Antonio Sr. was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital with a gunshot wound on top of his head. He was later pronounced dead.

Officials said the couple was shot to death with Antonio Sr.'s gun, which he's said to have kept in the bottom drawer of his nightstand.

Antonio Sr. owned a gym in Bellaire where he was a personal trainer. He was also a pastor at his mother's church and a motivational speaker.

According to an obituary, Dawn was born in 1974 in Atchison, Kansas.

KAYRA AMSTRONG

Kayra is the daughter of Dawn and Antonio Sr. and the youngest sister of AJ. She was just 12 years old on the night her parents were murdered.

Kayra testified in the third trial, saying she remembers AJ shaking her awake and that "he was frantic."

During the trial, she described her family's relationship as "normal."

She's currently a student at LSU.

KAY WINSTON

Antonio Sr.'s mother, Kay Winston, testified for the defense in the third trial. A.J.'s paternal grandmother said AJ "wasn't perfect," but he wasn't a killer.

JOSH ARMSTRONG

Josh is AJ's older half-brother. He's Dawn's biological son and was adopted as a child by Antonio Sr.

Defense attorneys have long theorized Josh could be the real killer in Dawn and Antonio Sr.'s murders. His mental health has become the center of arguments in the trials.

His grandmother, Winston, testified that Josh was "in a dark place" before the murders. But a state psychiatrist said Josh actually had a complete psychotic break because of the murders. Doctors said he spiraled from paranoia into schizophrenia nearly two years after his parents were murdered.

Josh's ex-girlfriend, Hannah Pilon, testified that on the night of the murders, she was at Josh's apartment, which is less than a mile away from the Armstrong home. Pilon said Josh stayed up playing video games with his cousin, and the next thing she remembers was being "frantically" woken up by Josh.

Pilon added that months after the murders, Josh "completely changed," and that "there were no signs of mental illness or paranoia before the murders."

PROSECUTOR JOHN JORDAN

John Jordan has been a longtime prosecutor with 24 years of experience as a Harris County assistant district attorney. He's also the juvenile division chief.

Some of his notable convictions include:

• Andre Jackson: He was convicted of murdering 11-year-old Josue Flores in 2016. In this case, Josue was stabbed more than 20 times while on his way home from school. Jackson was sentenced to life in prison.
• Terry Thompson retrial: Thompson was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2017 chokehold death of John Hernandez outside of a Denny's.
• Ana Trujillo: She was given a life sentence in 2014 for killing her lover, 59-year-old Alf Stefan Anderson, with a stiletto shoe.
• Susan Wright retrial: Wright was 27 when she was sentenced in 2004 for stabbing her husband to death as he was tied to their bed and burying his body in a hole he had dug for a fountain.

PROSECUTOR RYAN TRASK

While Jordan and Trask did not try AJ's first trial, they worked together for his retrial.

RICK DETOTO, CHRIS COLLINGS, AND JL CARPENTER

The three have worked together as AJ's defense attorneys since the beginning of the case.

JUDGE KELLI JOHNSON

She's the judge of the 178th District Court. She was elected in 2016 and took her oath of office in 2017.

Johnson served 17 years as a Harris County assistant district attorney.

Johnson has presided over AJ's previous two trials. She also imposed a strict gag order after the second mistrial. This is why we have not heard from the defense team or AJ since 2022.