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The Audacity of AJ Armstrong · Minor Mischief Podcast

• Kiki George: What happens when a quiet night turns into one of the most egregious cases to hit an affluent Houston neighborhood? This is the Minor Mischief Podcast and this is the story of the audacity of AJ Armstrong. Were ya tickets? Same old place that you laughed about. Well come. Welcome back to another installment of the Minor Mischief Podcast. I am your host and homegirl for the time being, Mrs. Kiana Amir, and happy Thursday. Happy April 2026 or happy whatever day it is when you may be listening to this. How are y'all doing? Listen, we have a special guest today, y'all. Mr. Minor Mischief is gonna record this episode with me because he's such a great sport and he's such a great supporter. So, Mr. Minor Mischief, would you like to introduce yourself? How's everybody doing? Is that your DJ voice? Yeah, it is. It is. It is. It's my DJ voice. Well, folks, this is my husband, Mr. Rome, and he is going to record this episode with me because my regular recording space is a little cramped and not clean right now. So I'm just in his face and we're recording and we're gonna make an episode and it's gonna be great, right? It's gonna be amazing. Exactly. Feel free to tr feel free to chime in whenever you want. But how are y'all doing? Like, how is it April already? Like, just go ahead and prepare for back to school. Go ahead and prepare for Christmas. Cause at this rate, it's gonna be here before you know it. And I also told you guys last episode that we are in the trenches of birthday season here at our house. So if you all know what teenagers like to do for their birthdays nowadays or what the going rate is for a birthday party for a five and four year old, please drop me a line in the comments because we have like a week and a half and I have nothing planned. But I hope everyone's Easter weekend was amazing. Hopefully you had some good fun, some good food, a good day, a good weekend. And hopefully everyone is doing well. But listen, today, today, Today's story. feel like I audibly gasped when I heard this story for the first time so I have decided to share it with you. I've never heard it. I told you a little bit about it. Yeah but I've never but you're about to hear it for real for real. Yeah. So put on your cowboy boots, put on your jeans, your Daisy Dukes, and meet us in Houston, Texas and let's get into it, shall we? You supposed to say we shall do you listen to the show at all? Let's get into it, shall we? We shall yes. So for today's episode, we are in Houston, Texas, baby. Home of the Houston Texans, home to Viet Cajun Fusion food, which I've never had. Have you ever had Viet Cajun Fusion? Never. It sounds delicious though. Like, think about like a bowl of pho, but like very well. I mean, pho is already very well seasoned. But think about like a bowl of pho and some really good like Cajun chicken. Right? It sounds good. It sounds like we need to we now have family in Houston. Yeah, so we're gonna be making some so we need to we need to make a trip to Texas. Yeah. So Houston is known for its Viet Cajun Fusion food. it's home to NASA's Johnson Center. Someone say Houston, we have a problem. It's also home to the Houston Rodeo that had half of TikTok in a bunch. Because y'all know y'all was wrong for having your nipples and butt cheeks out around those kids. but also super fun fact Houston is named as one of the most ethnically diverse metro areas in the USA, period. Also, Houston is the fourth largest city in the US behind New York, LA, and Chicago, and right in front of Phoenix, Arizona. Did you know that Phoenix, Arizona was like one of the top five largest cities in America? No, I did not know that. I would not have guessed. I would have guessed Atlanta. Or Miami. Miami didn't even make the list. Well, not the top five anyway. No. He's in the top five. Yeah, I did not know he's Phoenix was in the top five. That was shocking to me. Like New York, LA, I get Chicago, completely get Phoenix. I just I just was very unaware. And yeah, that's super interesting. And also don't mess with Texas, right? So in Houston, Texas, we are introduced to Antonio Armstrong Jr. Every time have you ever listened to that song by Chance the Rapper, All We Got? Every time I hear Houston, that line plays in my head. How's it going? She likes she liked music. She from Houston. Like Auntie Yan said. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. Every time I think of Houston, that song pops into my head. But so we're in Houston. Come on, let's go. Let's pack our bags, get on a bus, train, plane, car, swim. I don't know, you know, however you guys get to. Horse and carriage, pigeon. However, we're getting to Houston and we are introduced to Antonio Armstrong Jr. or AJ, who is our mischief maker, allegedly, and Antonio Armstrong Senior and Dawn Armstrong, who unfortunately are our victims. So for today's story, let's head back to the great year of two thousand sixteen. I was twenty seven years old, babe. How old were you? In twenty sixteen. It was ten years ago. I was thirty one. You'd have been thirty one, yep. And I was working at the great Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach, Florida. What about you? I was working at Best Buy. Were you getting Best Buy and Freightliner? you had two jobs. He had money. I don't know about that. So in 2016, Trump was elected for the first time. I was cussing my co workers. I was cussing my co workers out because I was the only, I was the only Democrat in our office. At the time. I I was man, they came in that day and they were gloating. They like, see, we told you he was gonna win. I'm like, Get get out of my face. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me for the next four years. But this is not about me. So Trump was elected for the first time. Zika virus was running rampant and people were afraid that their babies were gonna be born with soup dumpling heads. Harambe had dragged that little boy for breaking and entering his enclosure. And we found out about the poison water in Flint, Michigan. The Chicago Cubs broke their just got fixed. And that's fixed allegedly. Allegedly. Okay. And the Chicago Cubs broke their 108 year curse and won the W World Series. They were going crazy that year. And we were all chasing Pokemon in the streets like idiots. Yes. Cause remember that's when I was one of them. Yeah, that's when Pokemon Go came out. But I was living in like I wasn't living in the hood. But I was living in Daytona Beach at the time and for those of you familiar to Daytona Beach, it's like this Daytona Beach. Like looking for both You are either in a row of million dollar houses or you in the hood. Like that's it. There's not really a middle class in Daytona. Depends on what side of the track you on. Depends on what side of the tracks you were on and baby I was right on the side of the track. Because it was not a bad neighborhood. We were living with Because gr grandparents at the time. And it it's not a bad neighborhood. It's not. You've been there. But what Anyways, it was at that point I realized that there were no Pokemon in the hood. They don't put them yeah then Yeah. One Dance by Drake. They want people to be safe, so they wanna they wanna put them in the hood. You gotta go Yeah chasing people, chasing around, going up to people's doors in the hoods, yeah. Look at some Pokemon. You gotta worry about they got they got switches. Cha listen. So that was the summer that One Dance by Drake came out and controller. Yep. And Prince died that year and it left me in shambles. Cause Prince was not supposed to die. He have no business going out like that. But anyway, what a time in history, right? Twenty sixteen. Anything else you remember notable from twenty sixteen? No, it was a blur. All I did was work. I remember that year very well. That was the year my grandma died. Also, quick note for this story. I'm gonna be referring to Antonio Sr. as Antonio, and we're gonna refer to Antonio Jr. as AJ, just to keep things from getting confusing. Sounds good? So Antonio Donnell Armstrong. Whew, child, that is a strong black name. You hear me? Antonio Donnell Armstrong. Like that name got success written all over it. But Antonio was born on October 15th, in October, baby, 1973, to his parents. And his father's name is Don and his mom's name is Kay. I'm not sure what the birth order is or if these kids are mom's kids, dad's kids, both. I know that dad died when he was younger, like a teenager. So you know, but Antonio had 13 siblings. Thirteen siblings. And their names are Carnel, Olivia, Greg, Tamara, Don Chica, Donica. I wonder if they're twins. Don Chica and Donica, Eureka, Renee, Robin, Jordan, John, Jonathan, and Janae. It's a lot of kids. Now Antonio grew up loving sports. He started playing football in high school at Cmere High School, Gold Rams, in Houston, Texas. And because Antonio grew up in Houston, Texas, he later went to college at Texas AM University, Go Aggies, and he played on their football team. Now, Mrs. Don Armstrong was born on February 17th, 1974, to her parents, Keith and Ramona Whitley. Or is it Whitely? It's W-H-I-T-E-L-E-Y. I don't know if it's Whitely or Whitley, but well, we're just gonna say Whitley. She had one sibling, at least, a brother named Keith. Whitley Junior, another junior. And it's so interesting because I never wanted to have a junior. Like I'll like having boys, I never was like, my gosh, I'm gonna name my son, you know, junior. But no no no, I'm I'm getting to that part. Okay. I'm just saying if we were to have a a baby and it was a boy, I would like to I would like a junior. I know you're not interested in a junior, but we will have a junior. I just don't know the probability of that junior because we are very our hands are full. Very our hands are full. Like four kids is no joke. Four kids is and I always think about how things are gonna be like when they grow. Cause when they're little, like the little two, they're not bad. They're just a lot of work. And the older two, they are less work, but they are more babysitting. Because you have to stay on top of them because they're older and a little smarter. Yeah. But a little s trying to be sneaky. Trying to be sneaky, trying to do what, you know, kids do. We've been there. I just don't like being on the opposite side of the fence in this process. Like I like being the sneaker, not the the finder. You know what I'm saying? Until they have their own kids. That's what they was trying to say. Yeah, till they have their own kids. Yeah. Yep. but yeah. We will have a junior if we have a junior. So little baby CJ might really just be a figment of our imagination because I don't know if we have the capacity. I mean, you know. Or the space. Or the brain power. Or wanna pay daycare. Cause our daycare, like, we're on the the tail end of that daycare payment. I'm just saying. I still got baby weight from the first kid. Like I just don't. Anyway, Dawn was known as a real sweetheart, a real sweet spirit, a real loving soul. And people who met her instantly fell in love with her. Which I'm sure her charm is what drew Antonio to her in the first place. I could not find the story of how Antonio and Dawn met, but I could feel in my bones it was probably a good story. Like I'm just gonna assume that he was minding his business one day and in walks this baddie. I mean, she was a beautiful woman. And he was probably, she probably walked in and he was probably like, I want her. I need her. Gotta have her. Like, I gotta get that. Like, what's that? I gotta get in it. I gotta get it. And so he, you know, in my head, he walks over to her and he's just like, How beautiful. Would you be interested in coffee sometime? And she looked at him and she was like, Absolutely. Because they they were a beautiful couple. Like they complemented each other so, so well. They were beautiful on their own individually, but you know, when two beautiful people come together, it's like, damn, y'all look good together. And that's how they looked. Like That's how they look. They were a beautiful couple. Now, Antonio Armstrong, he was a football player. He was drafted to the NFL in 1995. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. But get this, he fractured his ankle on the third day of training camp and got cut. Me and my ankle will have some serious beef. Do you understand? I would go home and beat my ankle up. I'll be so pissed. I would have cried. Like cause you gotta think about it. Cashmere High School is not a good high school. It is one of the top three underperforming schools in Houston. And so for you to come from like one of the top three underperforming schools, you go to college, you do good at college football, you get drafted to San Francisco and then three days cut 'cause you rolled your ankle. I would be Pissed. Defeated, bro. I'll be so pissed. I'll be cussing everybody. At any rate, Antonio was then put on the training squad. He did get cut and then he got picked up in October 95 by the Dolphins. The following year, he moved up to Canada and played in the Canadian Football League in nineteen ninety eight. And then in October two thousand, he suffered a left ankle fracture, which ended his career. Like There was no more football after that. Me and my ankle? honey. I would have been so pissed. I would have really been in my closet talking to God like, Father, what is going on here? You did not bring me this far just to bring me this far. Like I I made it in the NSL. Most people don't. And then he just I would be so mad. But this story is not about me. Antonio took his losses in stride though. He moved back to Texas. And opened a series of gyms called First Class Gym, where he and Dawn worked. and they were trainers and owners. Antonio also dedicated his life to church service, being named associate pastor of the Spirit of Life Church. And he and Dawn were pretty determined to raise their children in the church and raise real Proverbs 22 and 6 children. You know, Proverbs 22 and 6, train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he would not depart from it. Together, Antonio and Dawn had three kids. Joshua who was Dawn's from a prior relationship and then they had AJ and Kara who they had together. Or is it Kyra? It was spelled K-A-Y-R-A. But I'm assuming it's it's Kara, because in the in the interviews she said Kara. So AJ Armstrong was born on November sixteenth, nineteen around the year nineteen ninety nine, if my math is correct, and Kaira was born four years later. AJ was described as a sweet kid who was loving and damn good at sports. He excelled in football, basketball, and track. And when asked why he was so good at sports, he attributed it to the Armstrong name. Josh and Kara were all they were also described as sweet kids who did fairly well in school, and together they were just a really loving, close knit, beautiful family. Now from the outside looking in, the Armstrongs had it all. They were the perfect family. Mom and dad are super successful. Their kids have good manners. They're being raised well. They go to great schools. They live in an affluent neighborhood. Like their liber hood their neighborhood was literally named Bel Air. I kid you not. Like everybody watched the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. So to be living in a neighborhood named Bel Air, I would not shut up about it. Exactly. I would not shut up about it. I really would not. Live in a place called College Park. College Park Bubba Sparks. Booty booty booty. So, like, you know, they were they were the American dream. Like they had they took great vacations. You know, and in 2016, that's what life was about. Cause spoiler alert, fast forward to twenty twenty six, the American dream does not exist anymore. I feel like the American dream is to move out of America. But that's not why we're here. Antonio and Dawn were described as people that you'd honestly want to be jealous of because they had it all. But you couldn't really hate on them or be jealous of them because they were just really great people. They were charismatic, they were sweet, did not have any enemies. Like, by all accounts, they lived a pretty good life. Their kids had a pretty good life, they had a pretty good life, and everybody thought so, except those kids. Like. Just like, what is there to complain about? Like, you want for nothing. You go to a great school, you live in a beautiful house. Like, you have a life that most kids pray about, and you're just over here cutting it. Because you see, while the family is chasing the dream of entrepreneurship, generational wealth, and getting into heaven, AJ had different dreams, different drug-fueled dreams. Because every family has one, right? Right. So Josh had Like in 2016, allegedly, Josh found out that he wasn't Antonio's biological son. Now, Josh is the older brother. And Josh at that time, like, he was very distant. Like, he was the self-proclaimed black sheep of the family. He just felt different. He realized, like, you know, I'm the unbiological kid. Like, Antonio did legally adopt him, but Finding out that the person that you thought was your dad isn't your dad and that you're adopted, I think I guess you kind of start looking at everything. And at that point, everything that's different, even though it may be your own fault. Like for instance, let's say that Josh is a bad driver, but AJ's a great driver. So they don't get Josh a car, but they get AJ a car. Then Josh feels like, you're just you're treating him better because he's your biological child. You know what I'm saying? So it's just a very tough spot to be in. For instance, I'm gonna use me as an example, because you know, I'm the only child of my parents. My mom has three kids from a previous marriage and my dad has two kids from a previous marriage. I am close to all my siblings. I'm also close to all their spouses. We've never called each other half brother, half sisters, half anything. Like I'm very cl like b I mean, you know you've been around us. I talk to my siblings every day in in one shape, form, or another. Like, if I'm not talking to my siblings on my mom's side, I'm talking to my siblings on my dad's side. I think today I have talked to every last one of them. Yeah. Honestly, I've talked to every last one of them today. But even in my situation, like we're all close. I've never they've never treated me differently, but sometimes I still feel left out. Even though I can tell you with certainty that no one in my family Well, definitely not my mom's side. My dad's side. Not my siblings. My siblings treat me amazing, but I don't really talk to my dad's side of the family outside of them. Yeah. but nobody's ever made me feel different. And so I'm not saying that they and I'm just saying that I don't think if he felt left out, I don't feel like it was an intentional make Josh feel left out or treat Kara and AJ better than him. I just feel like that was his perception because that's what, you know, he's now coming to realize. At any rate, AJ was over there acting a fool. He was not doing well in school. He had actually gotten kicked out, allegedly, of their private school, because they were went to this private school called the Kincaid School. And at the End of his semester in twenty sixteen, he couldn't go back. So they were actually getting him into, I guess, the local school that he was zoned for called Lamar High School. And he, you know, they said he was pretty excited about going to Lamar. You know, he enjoyed Lamar. He wanted to be there. But AJ's relationship with his parents was said to be pretty normal. Like, did they have their issues? Yes. Was he disobedient at times? Yes. Did he do regular stupid teen boy stuff like sneak out of the house and have a little snow buddy on the side? Yes. Why are you looking at me like that? Because he loved his family. Also, yes. Family members describe 2016 as a tumultuous year in the Armstrong home because again, Josh is like spiraling because he's feeling left out and not being a part of the family. But you know, overall, like the kids were being kids, right? Most kids get into at least a little bit of trouble while they're discovering themselves and finding themselves and getting used to their personality. And at this time, Josh and AJ, they were, you know, getting into a little bit of trouble. AJ would sneak out, he would turn his cell phone off. Let me tell you something. I don't think anything pisses me off more than not having the kids' locations. Like, there was one day, Kevin, I don't know if his phone died or what, but his location was off and I was like, like even in like I need to know. I was a teenager once. I know what happens. I need to know where you are at all times. You need to be accounted for my characters need to be on my screen. I need to know where you are. And in April 2016, Dawn Armstrong lit into AJ via a series of text messages that started with her questioning him about a fake ID, which he denied and was like, no ma'am, I don't have a fake ID. And a few weeks later, she lit into him about not sharing his location. She also constantly got on his case about using money that she would give him on drugs and girls. In May 2016, Josh was enrolled in attending Blyn College. Now, Blend College is a post-secondary school located in Brenham, Texas, which is about an hour, hour and 15 minutes away from Houston. Josh had been a student here, but you know, he's having trouble around this time. Like his mental capacity is not there. You know, being away from home is hard. Feeling like you don't belong in your family is hard. Being a black male struggling mentally and emotionally in a PWI is hard. Feeling like you're failing at life is hard. So Josh. you know, towards the end of his semester at college calls his mom and is just like, listen, I hate it here. I hate these people. I hate this room. I hate the eggs. I hate the cafeteria. I hate the hallways. I hate the grass. I hate everything about this place. I want to come home. Like I'm not doing well mentally and emotionally. I just I'm just ready to get out of here. And I want to come home and I don't want to come back. And I mean think about it, babe. If you got a call from one of the kids and they were just like I'm not okay. What you gonna what are you gonna do? Go pick him up. You're gonna go pick him up. And so that's exactly what Dawn did. And she drove over to Blyn, picked up her baby, and moves him back home with the rest of the family. After Josh moves back home, though, everyone notices that he's, you know, different than when he left. He was reported to be dealing with paranoia. He was in a dark place. He's hearing voices like. His mental was so messed up that Kara said he wasn't even showering. Like you know when you get into have you ever been like that depressed where you're just like I'm not about to shower or comb my hair or nothing? No, I gotta take me a shower. I've heard stories. Like I've heard of people I've had friends who've been so depressed that they just could not get out of bed to shower. And I've been like pretty deeply depressed in life at points. Yeah. But I've always showered. I just I need I I gotta wash my ass. Like Don't let it smell myself. Take a shower. But this is no, like, this is no shade. It's is not a funny. Like, I've known people who genuinely could not get out of the bed to shower because they were that depressed. And that's what Josh was going through at this point in his life. So he was reported to deal with paranoia. He was in a dark place, messed up mentally, emotionally, not showering, not getting a haircut. And whenever you would say something to him that he did not like, he would give you. What they called the death stare. I'm gonna tell you this much. Josh had one one time to look at me like that if I punched him between his eyes. Don't look at me like that, because I'll take your ass right back to blend. Don't piss me off. Josh also, you know, he did little drugs, smoked a little weed, drank a little bit. How does the song go? Drink a little bit, smoke a little bit. Is that a real song? It is, but it goes it's nothing. Drink a little bit, smoke a little bit, think a little bit. I don't know. That's how it's going in my head. Regardless, in June 2016, Grandma K is watching AJ and Kra. They're both at her house. Because Dawn and Antonio are just like, listen, y'all kids, y'all, we have seen all we needed to see. We need a break from you crumb snatchers. And we're gonna take a vacation. And so they take a vacation. AJ and Kara are at Grandma K's house, and Josh is at the house alone. Grandma Kay said, you know, she went over to the house and just to pick something up or check on Josh, but she just went over. She showed up unannounced, rightfully so, because she's Grandma K. She don't have to call before she comes. And so she gets to the house, and outside of the house there are Cars spread everywhere, parked everywhere, right? And so she goes inside and she said there are people passed out all over the house. There's people passed out on the couch, there's people passed out on the floor, there's people passed out in Kara's room, there's people passed out in AJ's room, and Josh is upstairs, passed out. And so she said there was she could smell. Like from the moment she walked in the house, she said she could smell weed weed. It was strong and thick in the air. And she said she couldn't find anywhere to park. And you know how black grandmas are. Think about it. Think about it. Most definitely. So she went in that house and was like, Josh, these people need to leave now. And she called Antonio and Don and told them what was going on. And they got back home and they kicked Josh out. They said, You can't stay here no more. You gotta go. And I don't blame them. They were kind enough though to get him an apartment around the corner. So he didn't have to sleep in a suitcase. Like some people. No comment. I'm not about to air out his business like that. So that's June 2016, one month before our story takes place. So in the weeks leading up to July 2016, Dawn was once again on AJ's case. Because honestly, I'm not even gonna lie. Reading this story, because AJ and Kevin are the same age, I'm not saying Kevin's perfect, because he's not. But what I am saying is the stuff that AJ was carrying on with, I don't think I would have s I I don't think I would have survived. I would have I don't think I would have survived. Cause he was like sneaking out, going out. You would have lost it on Kevin. He was, you know. I I would have had to intervene and grab to protect Kevin from you. And I'm just this is probably normal kid stuff, but they were like he was out smoking, he was drinking. Sneaking off. You would go mental. Being super inappropriate with his girlfriend. Like, I don't think I would have survived. Like, I don't I can barely survive the little bit of stuff we do go through. I was like, okay, maybe Kevin's not bad. Because I would not have survived. But Dawn is on AJ's case again, and she sends him a text and she says, You ignore every rule we set. You have shown us that you don't give a bleep bleep about what we say. And it is time for us to deal with you. You are out of control. So disrespectful. Exclamation point. And when I tell you, as a mother, I felt that with every fiber of my being. Because you know she had to be hot. I felt it with every fiber of my being. She concluded her text message by accusing AJ of getting high on her dime. Because how are you going to take your allowance money and do drink? First of all, your brain's not even fully developed at sixteen. You're still stupid. Just say it. He also received text messages from his father urging him to stop lying and to come clean. With one text reading: quote, AJ, you will understand what my wrath means. You have crossed so many lines. You don't deserve our kindness over a piece of tail. Your punishment will be severe. This is coming from me. That's what the text message said. You don't deserve our kindness over a piece of tail. Child. That tell had AJ acting all kinds of crazy. So you chose these yams over your family. And she was a snow bunny, so them yams wasn't really up to par. Those parsnips. Hello radishes. He was chasing radish. But I digress. So it's now July two thousand sixteen in Houston, Texas. I'm good. I'm good. That parson booty. I am I am good. She's a very pretty girl though. Super pretty girl. I could see why he would fall for her. She's beautiful. But I digressed. so it's now July 2016 in Houston, Texas, and baby, I am sure it is hotter than wearing a fur coat on a beach in Mexico because Texas. Louisiana and Florida heat in the summer immediately make me go say my prayers because I won't survive hell. I can't. I can't. I can't do it. So it's July two it's July 28th, 2016. It's smack in the middle of summer. It's a Thursday, 95 degrees. What Glorilla say? It's 7 p.m. Friday, 95 degrees. I ain't got no and you know, that's what it was. And it was hot. It was humid, it's sticky, the air is thick, and I don't care what anybody says. I do feel like a study should be conducted about why people go while people get stupid in the summertime. Cause people get stupid in the summertime. They do. They get stupid. Like you make real bad not you, not my husband, but people make real bad decisions in the summertime. Like I don't know if it's the weather, like it's outside, you got a lot of skin showing, like. People get stupid in the summer. So it's the summertime and Kara has spent the week with Grandma K. And so AJ, I guess it was his job to pick her up. Now Grandma Kay lived in Fresno, Texas. I'm not sure how far that is from Houston. I don't think terribly far, but AJ went to go pick up Kara from grandma's house. And so he shows up to Grandma's house this, you Thursday night. He ain't he ain't got no job, nothing to do. He's beefing with his parents, so he doesn't want to be home. So he comes in and he chats, you know, with grandma Kay for a little bit. And, you know, they joke around. They have a very normal exchange. They're talking and after the chat after they get done talking and you know, she probably fed him, probably gave him a piece of cake. You know how grandmas are. And so they leave to head home, AJ and Kara. It's between nine and ten PM. And grandma's just like, Okay, babies, you know, I'll talk to y'all in the morning, Kara. It was great spending the week with you. Please call and text me when you get home. And that was it. And they drive off into the night, but nothing prepares her for the call she receives next. Around 1 40 in the morning, it's now Friday, July 29, 2016, 911 gets a call from AJ Armstrong. AJ tells the dispatcher that he got up to use the restroom when he heard gunshots coming from his parents' room. They ask him if there are weapons in the house, and he tells them that he knows that there is a firearm located in his father's nightstand. The dispatcher arc asks him if there's anyone else in the home, and he tells them, My sister Kara's here. but then they hear him say, How'd you get into our house? And it's all my fault. Police arrive at the home 16 minutes later, and they're led into the home by AJ. Which I'm just like, 16 minutes. Bang. This is a wealthy neighborhood. Like, what took y'all so long? Was there traffic? It's 140 in the morning. 16 minutes? Anyways, 16. so police are arrive at the home and they're let into the house by AJ. They head to the second floor and find Dawn and Antonio shot in their bed with pillows over their heads. Dawn was pronounced dead at the scene, and Antonio was transported to Memorial Herman Texas Medical Center to be treated for his injuries. Police immediately are canvassing the house because who did this? And Kara At this point, she's in her room sleeping. How did she sleep through everything? Gunshot and everything. Gunshots, police sirens. Babygir had to take a Benedigel or something because she slept through the whole thing. And she is awakened by AJ, and he's just like, Hey, you gotta come with me. We need to leave the house now. So she comes outside and she's just like rubbing her eyes because you know how it is when you first wake up. Like she is completely disoriented. And she says as soon as she walks outside, she just sees like blaring police lights. She's rubbing her eyes because you know she was in her dark bedroom sleeping. You know, she's 12 and she's just like, what is going on? And so she's looking around, she's like, what's going on? Where's mom and dad? Why are the police here? And she said as she's asking questions, they immediately grab her hands and shove them in paper bags. And so she's like super confused and she's like, What is going on? Where my parents like, hello, tell me something. You just grabbing my hands, you're putting it in paper bag. Like, she's scared. And so police then have the difficult task of telling her that her mom's dead inside the house and that her father was rushed to the hospital. They don't know if he's gonna make it. And she just loses it. They also bag AJ's hands and they tell him that they're gonna test. Both of their hands for gunshot residue. And when asked why they did this, because I've covered a few cases at this point. And even with well, they knew Carly Gregg shot her mom. Like, because she tried to kill her stepfather. Like But I have just never heard of a story where it's just like they call like, think about it, babe. You listen to a lot of true crime as well. Yes. I can't ever think of another story that I've heard of where the police were called because shots were fired. And they come to the scene and immediately bag the hands of the person that called them. I've never heard of that. No. Doubt. Yeah. Like you knew that they had that there's something to do with it, but you just can't go up there and choose. Yeah, like you come here, let me bag your hands. Yeah. If you got gun residue. For sure. They bagged. They bagged it. think they had something to do with it. So yeah. That's just bad police work. Tell me about it. So AJ does ask if they can call Josh and Grandma K. And they were asked, the police were asked, like, why did y'all bag their hands? And they said they were just trying to preserve evidence if possible because they were suspicious. Now, at the scene, police find a bullet hole in the ceiling just outside of Dawn and Antonio's bedroom. Based on the trajectory, the bullet was shown to have been fired from AJ's bedroom, which sat right above his parents' bedroom. So the layout of their house, they lived in a three-story house. And the parents' bedroom was on the second floor, but AJ's bedroom was on the third floor. And there was also a loft on the third floor. And Josh was known to stay on the third floor as well. So they, you know, are canvassing the house. They're trying to find any any evidence that they can find. And they find Antonio's handgun laying on the kitchen counter next to a note that read, I've been watching you for a long time. Police take AJ down to the station and they're questioning him. They're asking him what what did you see anything? He tells them that he was asleep and he woke up to use a restroom. While he was up, he heard the door to his parents' room and he heard two gunshots. He said he ran back upstairs to his room and when he ran upstairs he saw a masked man run out of his parents' bedroom. Investigators are looking at him like, a masked man? You didn't tell the dispatcher that. We hadn't heard about this man until now that we're questioning you. And they're even more suspicious because number one, why didn't you tell us there was someone else in the house? We asked you who was in the house and what did you say? You said it was just you and your sister and your parents. Never mentioned the masked man. And they asked him at that point. They're just like, okay, well, we found a bullet hole in your parents' ceiling that came from your bedroom floor. Care to tell us a little bit about that. And he was like, nah, man, like that just came from me and my friend. We were playing the other week and we wanted to fire the gun. And so we had a pillow and we shot the gun into the pillow, into the floor. And when I read that, I was just like, Are you crazy? Are you stupid? Are you touched? Are you all of the above? Because you never, never, never, never, ever, never, ever, never, never, never, ever fire a gun unless you're at the gun range. practicing or unless you're in self defense and it's life or death. Like you know if I don't kill this person, they're gonna kill me. Exactly. That's it. Minor mischief rule. We do not shoot guns for fun. Period. So police then question AJ because they're just like, okay, the first thing that you did when we showed up was d deactivate the alarm. So how could someone have been in the house if the alarm was it never went off? Yep. And there was no sign of forced entry. And the door was locked. And he reiterates to them like I had nothing to do with my parents' shooting. They also note like, hey, there were burn marks on the staircase leading up to your room. Care to tell us about that? And he's just like, you know, I may or may not have been playing what matches. And they're just like, that's BS because that's more than I was playing with matches. Like there was Accelerant used. And he's just like, I I was just playing with matches. Like, I don't know nothing about none of what you're saying. So he just continued to not have having anything to do with it. And then they questioned Josh. And Josh mentioned that his mother sent him a text accusing AJ of trying to burn the house down just a couple days prior. And she said she noticed that. The stairs were on fire, she extinguished it, and she immediately got on AJ's ass about it, but he denied it. Now, what police did not tell AJ at the time was that they did test the stairs for accelerant and they found a bottle in his room that matched the accelerant that was used to start the fire on the staircase. So he was asked, like, hey, if we continue searching, are we gonna find any evidence pointing to you? And he was like, nah, big dog. He was like, you ain't gonna find no evidence on me, play boy. No, I made that part up. He didn't say that. Had to keep you on your toes. What he really said was, I can tell you now that nothing like that's gonna come back on me. A few hours after being admitted into the hospital, Antonio Armstrong Sr. did die as a result of his wounds, which I'm not gonna say it was expected. But they said he was like he was down bad. Like he had a gunshot wound to the head. Like they didn't think he was gonna make it. But you know about that. Desiree Turner survived. I said don't many people. Yeah, that's right. Cause they said she was in like what the top five percent. Mm-hmm. But people don't really not be the same. No, she wasn't the same. So Don and Antonio were laid to rest and they were honored on August sixth, two thousand sixteen. At the Windsor Village Church at Kingdom Builders Center in Houston, Texas. They were laid to rest side by side at the South Park Cemetery in Pearlin, Texas, and close to 3,000 people showed up to pay their respects to the couple. And AJ actually was allowed to attend the funeral in handcuffs. wow. I'm not sure what the deciding factor was or what the aha moment is, because usually they'll say because of this, this person was held. They just said they were suspicious of AJ. because of the alarm and because of the fact that they didn't see where anybody else was in the house. And Kra was asleep. I don't think she was asleep. I thought she was faking it. You think she was faking it? I think she was faking you think she was in there with like her. Yeah, I think I think she was the mastermind. You think she was the mastermind? Okay, we'll get into that later. Hold on. On August first, two thousand sixteen, AJ went to his first probable cause hearing and I guess at that point, that's when they were just like You probably had something to do with this. In April 2017, AJ was released from the juvenile detention center into the care of his paternal grandparents. And in March 2019, his trial officially got underway. He had he was ordered to wear an ankle monitor and to remain on house arrest from the time that he was released from Juvie in April 2017 until his trial started in 2019. And even then he still had to wear that ankle monitor. Prosecutors came in hot and heavy with allegations that AJ was basically a junkie with bad grades and estrained relationships with his parents due to all the lies they caught him in. Because let me tell you something about kids. If they are in trouble and their lips are moving, they probably lying. To find the best way to get out of this situation. They are going to their their fight or flight kicks in so good. And it's always flight and it's always the dumbest lie you can think of. That's like Just lying about messing with a tablet. As soon as she's like, You had proof, she was like, she just she was defeated. She just defeated. She was like, Well She just she just accepted defeat. Cause she was so loud and wrong. She was like, No, I was not on my tablet. And I'll I just and I just flipped it over to show it to her and her face She was just like she was like, Just lock me up just lock me up. I'll wait a key. I'm guilty. But Yeah. If kids are in trouble and their lips are moving, they lying because they trying to get out of that punishment. So the defense actually called the prosecutor's case complete BS because number one, there was no gun residue on AJ's hands and they bagged his hands at the scene. And you know a little bit more about guns than me, babe, but correct me if I'm wrong. Like you can't just wash off gunpowder residue with soap and water. Like it stays. So there was no gunpowder residue on his person. No gloves were found in the house. And there were no bloody clothes ever found. AJ's defense attorney, his name is Rick DeToto. He and their co counsel believed that there wasn't enough number one motive, and there wasn't enough reason to have AJ to be charged to begin with. So instead of fighting or trying to prove AJ's innocence. Their method was to point the finger at someone else. Because they didn't want to prove that AJ was innocent because they felt like the prosecution doesn't even have enough evidence to find him guilty. But what they wanted to do was to create an alternate suspect so that the jury would see, like, okay. Because that's that's what they had to prove. They had to prove, like, okay, AJ didn't do this, but who? And so they immediately got to work building. Not necessarily building a case against Josh, but pointing the finger at Josh and trying to come up with everything that Josh did that was suspicious to provide an alternate suspect. So they tried they did everything in their power to really show, like, hey, Josh lives with depression. Josh was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Josh has been hearing voices. You know, all these things. And Mr. DeToto even released a statement at the trial saying, like, hey, Josh recently found out that Antonio was his stepdad. According to the family, there was some jealousy. He didn't, he thought they treated AJ better, and he thought they treated Tara better, and how he felt like he was a black sheep of the family. Now, Josh's girlfriend, she said, absolutely not my man. Because she was called to the stand immediately after. And she said, I beg your finest pardon. Like, my baby was with me that night. I can prove it. His cell phone was like he was with me. She was like, Josh was not rejected by his family. They spoke every day. They love Josh. Josh loved them. Antonio is Josh's dad. Period. Whether biological or unbiological, that's his dad. He said that was his dad. Antonio said he was his dad. That's his dad. End of story. So the fence and prosecution like basically pingpog back and forth. And the jury went out to deliberate and they were hung. Eight jurors thought that AJ was guilty while four thought he was innocent. And because of this, on April 26, 2019, the case was declared a mistrial. AJ was ordered to remain on his ankle monitor, but he was released back into the custody of his grandparents while they figured out what they're gonna do next. After the trial, AJ stated, quote, Honestly, the first thing to my head was just like disappointment. But I always try to find the good somewhere in the situation. It's obviously a lot better than being in jail for the rest of your life. End quote. And that actually was something that he got from his dad because sources said that Antonio, no matter what happened, always tried to find the good in the situation. Like no matter what. so AJ, you know, is released back into the custody of his grandparents. And guess what? In the meantime, in between time. Mr. AJ was a busy man. You see that little snow bunny that we were talking about earlier? Miss Parsnip booty? Yeah. He got her pregnant. wow. Yes, he got her pregnant. That same little short skirt wearing lip gloss, popping baby hairs, and edge control girl that his parents were trying to keep him away from. They had a baby. A little cute curly haired boy named Hendrix. And I'm not even gonna lie to y'all, the people in this family are beautiful, like they all are so pretty. And Hendrix is not an exception. He is like the cutest. He's the cutest little boy. Like, he is so cute. They have good genes, because not a single person in that family is facially challenged. Dang. I'm telling you. Not a single person in that family is facially challenged. And so AJ was asked about his son after his birth, and he said, quote, Being a parent, it's a blessing. I absolutely love it, you know? And I'm grateful that I had the time with my parents and they were the great parents that they were. And they instilled so much in me in those 16 years that I feel like I'm prepared to be a father even at a young age. But you know, it's just I definitely see why my parents were the way they were, but I'm grateful for it. Heavy on that I definitely see why my parents were the way that they were. Like becoming a parent yourself is a very humbling experience. Very. Very. I feel like you know how people say marriage reveals your flaws? Parenthood also reveals your flaws. It reveals the places you're impatient. It reveals the things you need to work on. It reveals your insecurities. It reveals your areas of weakness. Like parent parenting is no joke. That's why whenever people say they don't want kids, I don't even judge them. I'd be like, you know what? Yeah. Maybe you don't. Maybe you don't. I'm never the girl to be like, my You need kids. No, baby, you don't. Enjoy not having to pay for them. Enjoy not having to pay daycare. Enjoy not having to find a babysitter. Enjoy being selfish. Cause you can't be selfish as a parent. It's a lay it it it's a love-hate relationship. I wouldn't even call it a love-hate relationship. Cause it's a love love relationship. Like I love being a mom and I love those kids, but at the same point in time. I would be a liar if I said that there is not a tiny calendar on my phone where I'm counting down until Butter's eighteenth birthday. Mm-hmm. Like with the older kids, I've already said that I'm not gonna be too hard on them. Like if they need a couple extra years home, I'm not gonna like, when you're eighteen, you gotta go. I'm not. You gotta do something with yourself, but you don't necessarily have to leave the house. You can't be doing something you were doing when you were No. And you probably gonna have a bill to pay. Exactly. You need some kind of responsibility. You are an adult. You never be laying on the house not doing nothing. Hell no. Eating up our food. Hell no. No. I I couldn't even no. Because what you're not about to do is come up in this house eating all the food and having an attitude, but you get to spend your money on you and you get to come and go as you please. Like come and go as you please is fine. Spending your money on you is fine. But you better be making your own money. And you need to contribute to this house somehow. Like you need to be cleaning up after yourself. And you need to be really, you need to be paying a bill. Like pick one, anyone. But I feel like you need to be paying one. Mm-hmm. I might even charge their butts a little bit of rent. Honestly. But I feel like I would charge them rent, but like put the money in an account so that when they move out, I'll just give it back to them as like, here's your move out gift. Think about it, because like Let's say we charge Kevin $200 a month and he stays home for two years. What's two times 24? 48. That's $4,800. Just give it back to him. Just give it back to him. I'm just saying, it's a good idea. Kids will humble you. Moral of story. So AJ's second trial was set to begin in October 2019, but got postponed to January 2020. Days before it was set to begin, it was postponed again because over three Thirty motions were filed right before the case was supposed to start. That's correct. And it got rescheduled a bunch of times because I don't know if you remember, but in twenty twenty there was this little virus that shut the world completely down. You may have heard of it. Yeah. I got some of the best sleep of my life during COVID. 'Cause that's all I did was lay around. That's when we got them big old The stimulus checks? My stimulus check my stimulus check was treating me right. I lived off my stimulus check for like from April to July. Lived my best life. Paid up all my debt. Yep. And well, my smaller debts anyway, because it wasn't that big of a check. It was like nine hundred bucks a week. But I paid up my small debts. Credit score went up. It was looking good. Was getting approved for all kinds of stuff. I was sitting pretty. I was doing, yeah. By the time I settled down, because I really spent the summer of twenty twenty traveling. So by the time I settled back into my routine of life, yeah. I I I was sitting pretty. Like I had money put up. I had, you know, good credit. My credit cards, balances were all low. Like it was I'm not gonna say it was a good time in life because life still sucked. But Financially, I did I did pretty good. Now, because of COVID, AJ's second trial started in October two thousand twenty two. AJ had the same lawyer, Rick DeToto, and the prosecutors were Ryan Trask and John Jordan. And they said, quote, It's now three years later when the second trial is happening. And in that time, AJ Armstrong has grown up. He is now married to his long term girlfriend, Kate. He has a son of his own. He looks a lot older, and the prosecution felt that this would change the jury's opinion of him because they're no longer looking at a kid, but a grown and established man. During trial number two, a member of the prosecution, Mr. Trask, told 2020 that his belief of AJ's guilt comes from being skeptical about AJ's changing stories about his relationship with his family. He said, quote, it showed that he was an individual that That had the capability of telling you one thing to your face and having a completely different plan behind your back. End quote. And honestly, I hear what he's saying, but I feel like most kids are well versed in smiling in your face and doing something different behind your back. I'll just be honest. Cause the people our kids are at school and the people that they are at home are two totally different people. Two totally. Totally different people. During trial number two, prosecutors presented jurors with new evidence extracted from AJ's cell phone from the night of the murders, which answered the questions: who was he texting around that time? In addition to who he was texting, prosecutors were now able to tell when AJ's phone was plugged in, when it was unplugged, and when the home screen was active. According to court records, at 108 AM, AJ's cell phone was taken off the charger. Which prosecutors suggested aligned with the timing that he head downstairs to murder his parents. Defense attorneys pretty much laughed and continued to argue that there is no direct evidence that shows AJ pulled the trigger. Instead, they chose to focus on pointing the finger at Josh as a more viable suspect. After the prosecution and defense rested, the jury went out and deliberated for nearly eighteen hours. I would have been cussing everybody out. Cause what you mean 18 hours? You want to stick me in a room with seven other people, or is it 12 members of a jury? I think it's 12. 12 for 18 hours? Yep. I would be in there cussing everybody out. And I mean cussing everybody out because turn me loose immediately. Lord. Now, when the jury came back, they found AJ. Well, they weren't sure because once again, the jury was hung. This time four people, no, eight people thought AJ to be innocent while four thought him to be guilty. Remember last time it was four people thought he was innocent and eight thought he was guilty. This time eight thought he was innocent and four thought he was guilty. One of the jury members who asked to remain i unidentified stated that, quote, it just got to the point where I couldn't even talk anymore. Everyone kinda had their mind made up, but it was very frustrating to hear everyone say, and I mean everyone say. Quote, We know he's not innocent, but we still have doubt. Child, I would have been in that room cutting up. Because if we all think he's not innocent, what are we doing here? But she said they just couldn't prove it. And honestly, because of his age, they didn't want to say he's guilty wrongfully, you know? Yeah. But I might have I would have been in that room cutting up. I might have stormed out. Like I might have gotten arrested that night. Cause what you mean, eighteen hours? Like they said even the judge told them like you guys might want to pack a bag 'cause you're not leaving that room until you come up with a verdict. I would have I would have been found in contempt. Send me home. Straight bully. Send me home. But my mom taught me at a young age that if I was ever to be called for jury duty, to say that I hate the police. Cause They're never gonna they're never gonna select you. No. She always told me she was just like, if ever, if ever you get called for jury duty, say you hate the police. Black Lives Matter. This is before Black Lives Matter. Like she told me this when I was a kid. After trial number two, AJ once again went home to his grandparents. Mind you, he's still on that ankle monitor. It's 2022. He has been on that ankle monitor since 2017. Five years. Still on that ankle monitor. Do they change it out? Like, or does it just stay on your ankle? Because I'm like, how do you even wash underneath it? The ankle is raw. That ankle is raw. His ankle probably smells so bad. Like, cause do they change it? Like, do you come in for service on an ankle monitor? I really need to know. Smell like earring bags. Ooh, not earring bags. Earring bags stink. Or like behind your ears. Oof. I know his ankle was f and he in Texas is hot. And he liked to play sports. Baby, his ankle was fun key. They could probably do a swab and grow something in a petri dish off his ankle. Five years? Mm-mm. Mm-hmm. Mm-mm. So at this point, prosecutors are like, all right, man. Alright. We gotta figure this out. They pushed for another trial and head back to the drawing board. The prosecution team mentioned that they knew they knew that a point in time would come where they were not gonna keep getting approved for cases to try him. So they ch they had to make sure they changed up their strategy, you know? And they brought the crime scene to the courtroom. So the prosecution at this point, they were not they were gonna pull out every single stop. And they hired an attorney by the name of I did not write this person's first name. So Attorney Siegler. And Attorney Siegler was famous for the case of Susan Wright. So Susan Wright was a young lady who was accused of stabbing her husband while he slept. And Attorney Siegler was a part of the prosecution on that trial. Now, the argument, I guess, of that trial was that she could not have basically overpowered her husband. Because it's one thing to shoot somebody while they're sleeping, it's another thing to stab somebody because At that first sign of pain, you're probably gonna wake up. And what are you gonna do when you wake up? You're gonna start swinging. Exactly. So the argument was that she tied him to the bed in order to stab him. And so the defense was just like, well, obviously that's impossible because how do you tie someone to a bed? So what attorney Siegler did in that case was recreate their bedroom in the courtroom and played out the scenario. Of how she would have done it. And that is what won them the conviction. So for AJ's case, they replicated, is that a word replicated? They made a replica of the staircase from AJ's room leading down into Dawn and Antonio's room. And they made a replica of their bedroom to kind of act out how AJ could have shot them and then basically walked back out the room. What they also were trying to prove. Is that AJ would have had to be right up on the masked assailant that he claimed ran from his parents' bedroom because he could not have seen the masked, I guess, murderer, from where he would have been standing at the top of the stairs. The mock bedroom scene also was to further disprove the notion that someone snuck inside and killed the couple with Antonio's own firearm. Sergeant Celestina Rossi stated that in order for this to be true, whoever killed this person would have had to go into the bedroom, walk around the king size bed, over to the nightstand, go into the drawer, take the gun out, assume that it's loaded because you can't check it. Because the moment you like because it clicks when you like go to check the clip, and that could have woken them up. So whoever this person is, if it's a stranger, like they're saying. This stranger would have had to walk into the bedroom, walk around the king size bed, walk over to the nightstand, go into the bottom drawer, remove the gun, assume that it's loaded, unlock the gun, walk back around to Dawn's side of the bed and shoot her. It would have to be two people. It would have had to be two people. If you shot you make shooting that gun went off the other person's gonna wake up. Yeah. So how you gonna get the pillow back over her face and shoot her in the face? That's a great point. It would have had to like because a gunshot's gonna wake you up. Exactly. You think it was Kara, don't you? I bro, I'm telling you, you you can't hear gunshot and not wake up. I know I can't there are there are less noises that wake me up in the middle of the night. So I know if I heard gunshots I'm getting up. But not everybody sleeps the same. Maybe she was on ambience. I sleep hard and I gunshots gonna wake me up. Yeah. And she's twelve, so I don't think ambience indicated in use of a twelve year old. Maybe they were drugged. They had to have been drugged. We'll get into that later in the final thoughts. So while the prosecution and defense were rewriting their arguments and preparing for a new trial, AJ was at home getting even more busy because at this point him and Kate are married. They have a kid, and he's really preparing for his life with his family. AJ's third trial was set to begin on May first, 2023, with defense attorney, once again, Rick DeToto, who was R E A D. Why? He was like, this is it. Third time's a charm. Y'all not about to keep a good man down. You cannot prove. The reason why we keep going through all these trials is because you can't win. You're you're not a winner. You're a loser. And I'm ready. That was the attitude he came in with. Like, you can prove it before. You're not about to prove it now. Let's just like keep wasting people's time. But I bet you this, at the end of this, they're not gonna give you another trial. So you better come correct. That's the attitude he had. And he brought to light the fact that literally the weeks after the murders, one no, not the weeks. Literally, okay, so they got shot Friday morning, right? Shot and killed Friday morning. That very next week, one of their gyms got robbed. Like armed robbed. Someone broke in with a weapon and robbed the gym. Police did later determine that the robbery and the murder were not connected. What he would find out soon though is that the prosecution at this time had found new key evidence that had been overlooked in both trials before. ADA John Jordan brought in blood pattern analyst, Sergeant Celestina Rossi, like I mentioned earlier, who examined AJ's clothing and peeled off the visitor's badge sticker that was on his shirt from the night that he was taken to the police station for questioning. So basically, when they got to the house, AJ let them in. They immediately bagged his hands. Well, they bagged his hands after he woke up Kira. They questioned him at the house, they looked around the house, took him down to the police station while the others searched the house. When he got to the police station, d I guess they have visitors' badges, like at the hospital. And so they printed off a visitor's badge and stuck it on his shirt. My question though is why did he need a visitor's badge if he came in with the police? You know, but maybe that's not an important question. So She goes in now. They hire this blood pattern expert, and she goes in and she peels that sticker off of AJ's shirt that they have preserved. And she said that she found small reddish-brown circular stains on the back side of that sticker. They sent it off for testing, and the test indicated that. Not only were those small reddish brown stains on his shirt blood, but they had it tested against Antonio's blood, and she said those results came back faster than she had ever seen results come back before because they came back almost immediately positive for being Antonio's blood. It was a perfect DNA match. The trial, which already had a jury chosen because of this. Had to be delayed for several weeks after prosecutors alerted AJ's attorney, attorney DeToto, about the discovery. And so when he was told about it, he scoffed. He was like, Y'all are funny. He said, y'all will do anything for a win, and stated, quote, after careful consultation with AJ, his family, lots of different lawyers, we're just gonna go ahead and let this evidence in because it looks so desperate that you have no evidence that you Are gonna go off of this teeny tiny drop of blood on Antonio's shirt. Honestly, whenever I read things about AJ's attorney, Rick DeToto, he was a little, I think he was a little too sure of himself. And I think when you go into things like this, you can't be too sure of yourself. Like you need to work like you're going to lose. You know what I'm saying? And I feel like He thought he had it in the bag because they they truly did not have a smoking gun. Like the prosecution has no smoking gun. None of the evidence leads back to AJ. Because they lost speculation. It's all speculation and it's all circumstantial. Because the handwriting on that note found next to the gun was tested. It was not AJ's handwriting. AJ's fingerprints were not on the gun, which I must admit is weird because he did admit to holding the gun. leading up to the murder. Not that night, but he did admit to firing it into that pillow with his friend. So how were none of his prints on that gun? It had to be wiped off. But I digress. Similarly similarly murder. Yeah. So yeah, I'm just trying to think of the evidence. They just had that bullet hole outside of his bedroom. They had the gun. I mean, whoever did it had to know that that gun was in there. But AJ kind of brushed it off as like people come in and out of our house all the time because they were very well known. They were very well liked and they were very well respected. So their house always had people just constantly coming in and out of it. You would not survive if that was the case. If that was our case, because you don't even like people walking in and out of our house now. Nope. Yeah. Stay out my house. He just basically attorney DeToto basically was just like, Y'all are desperate. This is just gonna further make us look right because now you're going off this teeny tiny speck of blood, which is complete BS. During the trial, Grandma Kay provided a very emotional testimony to seeing AJ that night and to the call that she received in the early hours of July twenty-nint, twenty sixteen. She said her daughter Olivia woke her up and told her that Antonio and Dawn had been shot. She immediately jumped out of bed and her and Olivia drove over a hundred miles per hour to the Armstrong's house in the Bel Air subdivision. She said when she got there, Kara was hysterical and police informed her that AJ was their primary suspect. She immediately said if AJ did something like this, it's gotta be drug related. That's what she told the police. But she said she was never asked to elaborate on what she meant by that statement. She also went on to say that AJ loved his parents. He would have never killed his parents. He's just a boy, a child. He's just 16. Experienced officers interrogated him. Prosecu prosecutors released new information, including the fact that on AJ's iPad, there were searches of things like How to build a car bomb, how to set things on fire, how to get rid of things by fire. But that doesn't necessarily prove he shot his parents, but it does it might kind of prove that he started that fire on the stairs. They also revealed data from the home security system, which showed that no one entered or left the house on the night of the murders. Now, throughout all of the trials, there was always a central argument that their home security system did not work the way that it should. The Kara, Josh, they all basically said that the home security, the alarm would go off even though it was deactivated and no one was coming in and out of the house. And then they stated on the flip side, it would be armed and And someone would walk in the house and it wouldn't do anything. so that was just a going thing. A text from Dawn to AJ dispel that theory though. Mind you, all of the kids said like the alarm system was faulty, but they found a text in AJ's phone saying from Dawn, basically telling AJ, like, listen, I know you say that you were here and that the reason why it doesn't show you coming in the house is because the alarm is faulty. But the alarm doesn't lie. You lie. Thing, you know. I'm just saying. The jury also heard testimony from Mark Moeller, who is a forensic psychiatrist, and he actually was Josh's psychiatrist. He testified to Josh's mental condition, 'cause you gotta remember the defense's whole thing is pinning this thing on Josh. So he testified to Josh's mental condition leading up to the murders when he started seeing him and after the murders. Kara also was called to the stand to testify, and she spoke about AJ's demeanor leading up to them going to bed that night. She said he was fine. They joked around, they played, no one argued, he wasn't angry, he wasn't upset. She said they had a good evening and that they all fell asleep as they normally did. And what woke her up was AJ shaking her, telling her that they needed to leave the house now. Which I still cannot believe that she did not hear those gunshots and she did not hear those sirens. Mastermind. Something they Trial number three lasted roughly two weeks, and the jury was sent out to deliberate. And after two 10 hour days of deliberations, the jury came back and found AJ guilty of capital murder. And his wife, Kate, lost it. Lost it. All the articles that I read stated that baby girl started wailing when the verdict was read. Now I did watch a video of the verdict being read and I did not hear her wailing. But you know, that's neither here nor there. The mic was on the judge. But I can't blame her. I would've lost it too. Cause think about it. You just married this man a few years. Like, they've been married, what, two years maybe? So she had just married that man, they had a baby, and now he's going to prison for murder. I would have lost it too, because my mind would have flashed to everything that we won't get to do. And so at that time in 2023. After seven years and three trials, they finally took his ankle monitor off and traded it for prism attire. I'm still shocked that he had that ankle monitor on for seven years. Seven years. AJ's family was furious at the verdict and at the sentencing. AJ's great uncle Harvey Armstrong, who is, I guess, she he is Grandma K's brother. He told the news that he was crushed emotionally and left devastated and in disbelief by the guilty verdict. He said, I know AJ. I know in his heart he could not kill his father and mother. He still hopes that one day AJ will follow in the family's sporting footsteps because this is Grandma K's brother, so that would make him Antonio's uncle. And fun fact, he was also in the NFL. He played for eight seasons. So he was in the NFL. Antonio was in the NFL, and he says that he is holding on to the hope that one day AJ will follow into. their footsteps and play in the NFL as well. He said he recalls often a conversation that he had with AJ where he said, Uncle, when I get out of this whole stuff, this mess, I want to go back and play football. God will find a way. I'm convinced of that. Faith over fear. I'm going to have faith that my nephew will be home soon, is what he said. And you know what I say? I feel like God really be looking at us sometimes like, who said that? I really did. Cause he's just like, I know. He said, God is going to make a way. And I'm just like, God is probably like, I am? Since when? Would do we talk about this? Y'all just be saying anything in my name. And I ain't say none of that. I ain't say none of that. It's like right before the election, I was listening to the Steve Harvey show, and he's just like, God said Kamala Harris is gonna win. And the next day I'm like, Steve, God ain't say that. God did not say that. Because if God said it, she would have. But you know, I just really feel like God be like, I said that. I don't recall saying that. Grandma Kay said after the trial, quote, right now Antonio and Don are not at peace about what is happening to their baby boy, not at all. End quote. And she also mentioned that she told Kate to tell Baby Hendrix that his father was away at work and not in prison. And to not let him know about the details surrounding his conviction. I don't agree with that. Kids are not stupid. You mean to tell me that you're gonna tell that little boy that his father's away at work with the internet at his fingertips? Like he's not gonna Google his father one day and see all the stuff that comes with he could probably Google his own name and see everything that comes with. You know, I just don't feel like they should lie to that boy. And if you are gonna lie, tell him that his dad's in the military. That way it's at least half true, you know? He's He's wearing a uniform, surrounded by men with guns. If he tries to escape, they'll shoot him. You know? I'm just saying. I got that from the Bernie Mac show. I'm not trying to make light of the situation, but that was so funny to me when he said that. Rick De Toto, when interviewed after the trial, said, quote, It was the worst moment of my career. It's a complicated emotion in that I know I fought my ass off for him. I gave a lot for that young man, but I still feel like I let him down. And that leads us into where are they now? Y'all might as well call AJ, AJ the appealer. AJ who appeals? Appeal AJ. AJ appella. Because he is not taking this conviction without a fight. In October 2024, he filed a motion for a fourth trial, which was denied. And he, I mean, he's filing appeals. He is not playing. He's not going to take this laying down. He filed one recently. I don't know if that one's still pending or if it's denied, but He is not taking this lane down. He's continuing to work with his attorneys to file appeals. And he's holding on to the hope that one of them will be approved. Kara went on to be raised by her grandparents and she went on to study at LSU. And she has grown to be her mother's twin. Like her face is like Dawn copy and paste. Copy and paste face. Like And I'm sure that makes it worse for the family because it's like you're looking at this little girl and she looks so much like her mom and they miss her. Like I know it's been 10 years, but time does not make anything better. Josh's mental health spiraled in the months after his parents' death. The doctor evaluated that Josh has a complex where he believed that he has both a god and a devil living inside of him. He spoke to continuing to hear voices, specifically one of a woman in his head that he admitted that he wants to harm. Now, an interesting thing about Josh. I read that during, I guess, questioning for the trial, and I didn't include it in my regular story just because I only saw it in one article, and I just wasn't sure of the validity of it. But It there was a statement from Josh saying that he had a hard time after his parents' death because he saw them die. And it was brought up in one of the trials, is what this article said. I just I don't know because he wasn't there. Like he pulled up. So unless he like I don't know. Like that he's yeah, he said he had a hard time because he watched them die. And I'm just like, when did you watch them die? It's just questions that need answering. Josh still maintains an active social media presence, but he keeps his private life private. He doesn't really bring up the case. He doesn't talk about his parents publicly, and he doesn't talk about his siblings publicly. But he does maintain an active social media presence. Kate filed from divorce from AJ in December 2024, citing frustration with limited communication. Because when your partner's in jail, you can't just talk to them at all hours of the day and night. And you can't just do what you want to do. Communication takes work, availability, funds. Those calls add up. So yeah, they add up. Like they add up. That's all I'm saying. I know people who have dated men in prison and when they tell me how much those phone calls cost Yeah. Are you still with him? We're gonna go on a rant here in a little bit. but no. Kate did release a statement in November 2024 saying, quote, I mean, I lost my best friend, my husband, and the father of my child in one moment, and I have not been able to see him. As soon as he was transferred to the state prison, I have not been able to talk to him on the phone or have any real contact with him. So that's been really hard. I've been worried about him. That's not an easy thing to be put through. And I hear what she's saying, but I feel like it's cat. Because what's hard is holding down a man while he's serving a life sentence. You see, at the time that he got convicted in 2023, she had already been holding him down for seven years. Now he wasn't actively in Prison, he was at home. He was on the ankle monitor. So I guess she could still see him, touch him, do whatever she wants with him. But I just feel like I don't think limited communication is the issue. I think she got to the realization that he's going to prison or he's in prison and that's where he's gonna stay. He does not get to come home. And I think that's what caused her to file the divorce. Listen, I'm just gonna say this. I say this all the time. I know me. I'm not equipped to date a man in prison. I'm not. I don't have the patience for it. Number one, if I have to pay more than my regular cell phone bill to talk to you, baby, we will not be speaking. Life is expensive enough. I'm not about to stay here cupcaking with you on the phone. You know what you need to do? You need to go read a book. You need to go read a Bible. You need to go work out. You need to go do anything else but be on the phone with me right now. And I get that you're bored because you're in prison. But this like I would literally be hearing. the dollar signs every time I got on the phone with that man. And listen, they got money. But still, those calls add up. which brings me to my final thoughts. So what do you think, babe? What do you think happened? I think she was a mastermind. I'm I'm I keep saying it. She I think she's the mastermind. You think Kara's the mastermind? Yeah. Mm. No, I'm just joking about that. But I think the the brother that got kicked out planted a seed and then that they all had something to do with it. I don't know. I just I can't believe that we have another week of me not really knowing what happened because I couldn't figure out what happened in the case last week either. Like, do you think that AJ really pulled the trigger that killed his parents? I mean it's possible. It's possible. I just don't know. Like I understand what the jury is saying. He didn't have gun residue in his hands. He had no gun residue on his body. Like they checked all of him. And there was no gun residue to be found. And I have seen so many page like his family, their his grandparents and all of them, they still completely stand behind him. They don't think he did it. And I saw an interview that he did where he was asked, like, if Kara ever asked him, like to his face, Did you kill mom and dad? And he was like, No, she never asked me that and they're like, Why do you think she never asked you? And they're like, 'Cause he said, 'cause she knows I didn't do it. I took that to go two ways. is either because even if I felt if my brother was in jail for allegedly killing our parents, even if I felt in my heart of hearts like my brother could not have done this, I would still ask. I would still ask. And I feel like you would too. I feel like if you if if the situation looks suspicious and you knew someone that was Convicted of murder, even though you felt in your heart that you don't think they did it, I would still ad like nothing in this case adds up. Nothing. Because I don't think the home security alarm was faulty. I think that if someone had broken into the house, there would be record of someone breaking into the house. Yep. I also feel like how can you sleep through at the age of twelve gunshots? I remember when we moved to Asheville, it was in 2021. It was at the end of 2021. Kevin was 11, going on 12. In the building next to our building, someone got shot. So it wasn't even in our building. In the building next to our building, someone got shot. And I heard the police cars and the people outside, and that's what woke me up. But you know what woke Kevin up? The gunshots. And he was 12. And it wasn't even in our building. It was in the building next door. So I didn't hear the gunshots, but I heard the people outside and I heard the police and I heard the ambulance. But Kevin heard the gunshots and he woke up and came into my room. So I I don't know. I just find it very hard, like I find it very hard to believe that she did not hear anything. Because even if she didn't hear the gunshots, there are police and EMS and all kinds of people outside of your house. Like How big is this house? Huge. I mean, I'm sure it was a big enough house, but because you gotta think about it, he wasn't making NFL money at the time. No, he was making gym owner money at the time. Which I don't know how much gym owners make, but it's not NFL money. Like, I don't think his house is as big as Rihanna's. No, no, I'm not saying that. I just know he has a bigger house than anybody else. Yeah, he probably has a like they probably had a really big house. But I'm just saying I don't think it would have been bigger than the building next door that Kevin still heard gunshots. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I don't know. I I am led to believe that you are probably right. The siblings were probably in on this together. Yeah. I think they were all in on it. even the ones that wasn't in the r in the house. Yeah, because it's very possible that I mean, if they had if he if he had a burner phone. Know, but I could tell like there was some level of planning to this. There was some level of planning to this because I'm still not convinced that him and his friend was playing when that bullet hole got shot into his floor. I think that was practice. And I'm not convinced. I don't know, because they're they were tested for gunshot residue. I don't know. I'm this is this is I'm yeah, this is a complex case. I don't know. But what I do know is that I do think that one of his appeals are gonna get approved. I think he's not I don't think he's serving life. I don't think he's even gonna serve forty years. I think he I do feel like his one of his appeals is gonna get in front of a judge that's going to look at it and say, You guys did not even have sufficient evidence to charge this boy. Because all they know is that his story changed. And it wasn't even a big change. It was just, there's a masked murderer. There's a masked assailant in the house. I mean, yes, a very obvious, a very blatant, a very stupid lie, but maybe he wasn't lying. Maybe that masked person was Josh. I don't know. Maybe Josh was in the house. Maybe his girlfriend covered for him. That was his alibi. I don't know. What do y'all think? What do y'all think? Drop a line in the comments. Like, let me know. Do you guys think what do you guys think happened? What do you guys think happened? There AJ, he has a ton of support in the online world from his family. Like, there are a lot of people that stand behind him and think he's innocent. I d me personally, I don't know. I just I don't think they had enough to charge him. I have seen people with even more damning evidence go free. But what if it comes out that he did do it? Like if he's released and they find out he did it after the fact. Like OJ Simpson? Yeah. Because OJ did it. I don't care what nobody says. And then he wrote a book about it. He did that. He did that, yeah. I don't know. I feel like even if even if he gets free and they find out that he did it, truth be told, it's been It's been ten years that he's been dealing with this, so it's just like even if he ser yeah, even if he serves another ten to fifteen years and then gets out after that, I feel like I don't know, I feel like he served his time. Yeah. He 'cause he's already he hasn't been in prison for ten years 'cause but he damn sure was on house arrest all those years. Not being able to travel or leave the country or do anything with your family, not being able to work or Go out. Where's the craziest place that you've ever seen somebody wear an ankle monitor? Like you were out one time and you just look and you're just like, I know that ain't what I think it is. At the pool. So me when Kyra was a baby, me, Karen, mom, Shane, and the kids, we went to Lake Lure. And there was this girl. And I just remember she just kept walking back and forth in front of me. And I didn't think nothing of it. And then I seen this ankle monitor on her ankle, and I'm just like, girl, not at the lake. Not at the lake. But yeah. I don't know. This case got me stumped. He may have done it or if he did it, he did a great job concealing the evidence. Yeah, he did. If he did. He did a great job. 'Cause he didn't have no gun powder residue on him and no blood on his shirt. No well, no obvious blood on his person. And if Kara was involved, she hadn't they didn't even look her way. No, not at all. She was asleep. She was asleep. And if Josh was involved. But the police work was sketchy too, because they didn't do the they didn't ask no no questions. No, they did not. They did not ask Kara any questions really. And they really never like they asked Josh a couple questions at the scene, but they they never like interrogated him. Like they had their eyes set on AJ from the moment. And I think what did them in was the fact that the alarm was that he disarmed the alarm when he let them in the house. I think that's like I feel like they held on to it. I really do. I feel like that's what happened. I feel like he called, they held on to it because they're just like, wait a minute. I thought you said your parents have been shot and somebody was in the house. Then why are you deactivating the alarm? And I feel like that kind of stuck with them and they just couldn't see past that. I really do. I've never had a home alarm system. I mean, I don't know if they're faulty or not. Like even with the surveillance that we have in our house. I can't ever I mean even that's faulty because our video goes out sometimes. Not often, but it does. Yeah it does. Our doorbell camera goes out all the freaking time. All the time. So these things are faulty. I just never known anybody with like ADT to be like my alarm doesn't act right. Have you? No. I haven't I've I just haven't. And I actually had a friend that worked with ADT and these new these new systems Yeah, it's because they're cheaply made because they just try to do it real quick. You gotta think about it. Do you know how much like resource we probably use for all of our recording and stuff? Like 'cause we we have cameras. Every house on our street probably has cameras. Mm-hmm. It's just house people nowadays they have cameras inside their house. And so I I believe that's probably why technology messes up so much, because there's just so much of it. At any rate What do y'all think? Let me know. Leave a comment. Follow me on TikTok, Minor Mischief Pod, on Instagram, Minor Mischief Podcast. wanna chat? Send me an email. Case suggestions, minor mischief podcast at gmail.com. I forgot to tell you, babe, the guy from that podcast, not my brother's keeper, he sent me a Did he? He did. And he said that he just it was encouraging. He was like, keep going. Like, don't stop recording. Keep going. Push it out. Like you got this. And I'm just like, my gosh, this is cute. That's what's up. I know. I feel like I'm like, okay. So yeah, shout out to King Arthur from Not My Brother's Keeper. Oop. Alright, it's time to wrap this up. Computer's about to die. But yeah. So long, farewell, off weeders and goodbye. So See you all next week. Same day of the week, because you know we're sticking to our Thursday releases. Rome. Hopefully so. We are. We are. Can we expect you back in the future? Yes, most definitely. Okay. I hope y'all enjoyed it. You enjoyed it? Yeah, I did. I'm glad you enjoyed it. So I'll see y'all next week with a new case, new mischief, new people. Same day of the week. Same time. I can't even say same time because sometimes they come out at midnight and sometimes they come out they do know that. I feel like they I feel like the people that know. I don't know what time this episode is gonna be released. Now I don't know what time it's gonna be released next week, but guess what? It's gonna be on a Thursday. I don't care what has to happen. Let me not say that, because the last time I said that, I went through two laptops, a deleted recording. I was pissed. But I'll see you next week on the same day. Don't know what time. But until then, stay mischievous, friends.