HOUSTON, TEXAS: Kate Ober, the devastated wife of AJ Armstrong sobbed uncontrollably in court on Wednesday, August 16, as he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his parents as a 16-year-old back in 2016.
Jurors deliberated for roughly 10-and-a-half hours before finding Armstrong guilty of fatally shooting retired NFL linebacker Antonio Armstrong Sr and Dawn Armstrong in the family’s southwest Houston home.
The jurors came to a guilty verdict in the third trial after hearing more than 40 hours of testimony from 31 witnesses over an 11-day span. The two previous trials had each ended in a hung jury and Armstrong has been out of jail with an ankle monitor, on bail, since 2017, according to Daily Mail.
Who is Kate Ober?
The 23-year-old Armstrong showed no emotion while the verdict was read out loud but his long-time partner, Kate Ober, openly cried in the courtroom.
She was comforted by her husband's attorneys in court as he was led away following sentencing.
Armstrong and Ober married early this year after dating through high school, according to her Facebook page. They are also parents to a two-year-old baby boy.
Ober, a Cinco Ranch High School graduate, has been a part of the murder trial since 2019. At the time, she had revealed that AJ's parents, Dawn and Antonio, were AJ’s “best friends” and he was “just happy, goofy,” even in the days leading up to the tragic murders, and did not behave suspiciously.
When did AJ Armstrong murder his parents?
The prosecutor noted that on July 29, 2016, Armstrong shot his parents at close range as they slept in their bed inside the Bellaire-area home. The teen then placed a pillow over each of their heads before calling 911 to report hearing gunshots.
Dawn, who was shot twice in the head, was pronounced dead at the scene while Antonio Sr, who was shot once, was rushed to a hospital where he too died. They both were 42 years old.
Armstrong Sr was a former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers. After initial investigation, Armstrong blamed a masked intruder but police claimed they discovered no signs of a forced entrance into the home.
However, investigators later discovered a .22-caliber pistol on the kitchen counter along with a note that read, "I have been watching you for a long time. Come get me.”
HPD Sgt. J.P. Horelica previously noted that Armstrong became the primary suspect after it was discovered that there had been no forced entry and that there was a gunshot hole in Armstrong's bedroom ceiling.
Additionally, they said that he searched how to make a vehicle bomb on his iPad and his story of seeing a masked intruder fleeing his home didn’t add up.
Why AJ Armstrong killed his parents
Prosecutors previously alleged that Armstrong was angry with his parents as they scolded him after he was kicked out of his high school, received failing grades, and smoked marijuana.
They alleged that he had shot the same gun into a pillow and blanket, through the floor of his bedroom, about a week before the killings and lit a fire outside his parents’ bedroom two days before, according to NY Post.
During the trial, the defense attempted to refute the prosecutor's argument, arguing that Josh Armstrong, Armstrong's elder brother, was a more plausible suspect because of his serious mental health problems, which included paranoia and schizophrenia.
But, the prosecution rejected the defense's claims and asserted that Josh's mental health issues likely resulted from his parents' deaths after they were killed. Now, AJ is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
