Other Suspects Overlooked
DeToto believes Houston police detectives quickly zeroed in on A.J. as the killer and failed to explore the possibility of other suspects, including his older half-brother, Josh Armstrong, who lived down the street from the family and had complete access to the home at the time of the murders and suffered from mental health issues.
“We had medical records stating that the alternative suspect [Josh] said that he was a devil—that the devil was inside of him, that he witnessed his parents being murdered. He was suicidal, homicidal,” DeToto alleges.
The morning of the slayings, A.J. and Kayra were placed in the back of separate police cruisers and brought down to the police station for questioning. Meanwhile, Dawn was pronounced dead at the scene, and Antonio succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Both victims were fatally shot with Antonio’s gun, according to police, as seen in a season 6 episode of A&E’s Accused: Guilty or Innocent. Authorities noted that a bullet hole had been shot from A.J.’s bedroom through the ceiling.
As the family coped with the realization that Antonio and Dawn—beloved pillars of the Houston community—were dead, they were dealt another major blow when police identified A.J. as their lone suspect in the brutal slayings.
At the scene, DeToto says a note with the words, “I have been watching you for a long time. Come get me,” were found scribed on a piece of paper, but police never conducted a handwriting analysis linking the letter back to A.J. The attorney claims there was a lack of solid DNA evidence or gunshot residue tying him to the crime.
Still, DeToto says prosecutors driven by “pride and ego” were desperate to keep A.J. behind bars and pin the murders on the teen, despite a series of missteps in the investigation where he alleges evidence was mishandled or buried.
Last year, a forensic analyst on the prosecution’s side was fired for her shoddy work. A.J.’s legal team sought a retrial as a result, but district court Judge Kelli Johnson denied the motion.
“This police investigation was one of the worst I've ever seen,” slams DeToto. “It was willful ignorance, not looking in certain places because they were scared of what they would find. They hid their heads in the sand.”
He continues, “They didn't have any DNA evidence or gunshot residue or anything, and they had no choice but to stick with that story about A.J. because they would have been embarrassed.”
Authorities alleged A.J. was motivated to kill his parents over a dispute about his grades and marijuana, citing text messages between them. Prosecutors introduced the evidence at trial, but the defense believes it had no effect on the verdict.
A.J.'s paternal grandmother, Kay Winston, characterizes the accusations as outlandish.
“We know he didn't do this—period,” Winston tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “Did he lie to his family? Sure, he did. Was he smoking marijuana? Yeah, he did. Did he lie about going to see his girlfriend? Yeah. But not one time did he disrespect his parents.”
Three Emotionally Devastating Trials
Winston says she pleaded with investigators on A.J.’s behalf, but they were determined to find the teen guilty. The case dragged on for seven years as prosecutors tried A.J. three separate times after his first two trials resulted in hung juries.
In 2023, a third jury found A.J. guilty of capital murder in the deaths of his parents. After spending the majority of his time between trials on house arrest, a judge sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
“You try a case multiple times, eventually you're going to get a guilty verdict, one way or the other,” DeToto criticizes.
The three trials took an emotional toll on A.J., who never had the chance to attend prom or graduate with his class.
“Seven years of ups and downs, stress, anxiety and not knowing exactly what his future was,” Detoto says. “But he’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever been around.”
A.J. filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston after receiving his verdict, claiming that blood evidence introduced in the third trial, which wasn't presented in the first two, was planted by someone with the Houston Police Department. “I don’t understand it at all l how the statement or the 911 call led to a guilty verdict, but that's what the jurors decided, and I can't … I don't hold any ill will towards them,” A.J. told Houston news outlet KPRC 2 in 2023.
While A.J., now 25, serves his sentence at a maximum security prison in Abilene, Texas, he often receives visits from Winston and his 4-year-old son, Hendrix, whom he shares with ex-wife Kate Ober.
Armstrong maintains his innocence as well as a positive outlook on life as his legal team works to get his conviction overturned. “We're not going to stop fighting,” he told KPRC 2. “… This story ends and whatever, however long it takes, whatever the process that we have to go through to get me back home, we're going to do that.”
A hopeful Winston concurs. “The truth will always stand,” she says. “The truth don't die. A lie will, but the truth won't.”
