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AJ Armstrong transferred to 3rd prison in less than two weeks

New Mugshot Antonio ‘AJ’ Armstrong expected to return to court Friday (Copyright 2023 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.)

TEXAS – Antonio “A.J.” Armstrong Jr., the 23-year-old found guilty of killing his mother and father while they slept, has been moved for a third time in less than two weeks.

KPRC 2 learned of Armstrongs transfer Tuesday morning. According to TDCJ officials, he was moved to the Byrd Unit in Huntsville.

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The Byrd Unit is known for processing inmates before they’re placed in their permanent facility. It may not be the unit Armstrong will carry out his sentence.

KPRC 2 Reporter Rilwan Balogun spoke with his appellate attorney, Patrick McCann. He says Armstrong is in good spirits.

“I do have faith that the moves have been made out of concerns for his security,” McCann tells us. “At some point, they will have to figure out how to keep him.”

The 23-year-old is serving life in prison. Armstrong will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years.

McCann adds as far as he knows, Armstrong hasn’t been given a proper physical, nor has he had all of his vaccinations ‘for living in a crowded facility.’

“As far as I know, the process could be incomplete,” he says. “I am hopeful they will finish it at Byrd and then assign him to his permanent unit.”

As for appealing his conviction, McCann shares he is still ‘hopeful’ the judge will give him a hearing when her schedule allows it.

TIMELINE OF A.J. SINCE BEING CONVICTED

On Sept. 21, A.J. was transferred from the Harris County Jail, where he had been since being handed down his guilty verdict on Aug. 16, to the Garza West Unit located in Beeville, Texas.

The Garza Unit is responsible for the initial intake and processing of offenders from the surrounding regions into the Texas Department of Corrections and was never said to be A.J.’s permanent facility.

A few days later, A.J. was moved to the George Beto Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas, which is located about 170 miles north of Houston, near Palestine, Texas.

The Beto Unit, which can house 3,150 inmates, is where most thought A.J. would carry out his life sentence, but now, that does not look to be the case.

WHAT HAPPENED

In 2016, A.J. was accused of killing his parents, Dawn and Antonio Sr. inside their southwest Houston home. The case went through three trials where A.J. pled not guilty and argued his innocence in each one. The first two trials were declared a mistrial with jurors in the third trial finding him guilty of capital murder and sentencing him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

For more information on A.J. and his trial watch KPRC 2′s exclusive series, “The Evidence Room: Sinner or Saint?” which features our exclusive interview with the Armstrong family. You can watch the full interview here.

Since his conviction, A.J. and his family have refused to give up the fight. Earlier this month, A.J.’s attorney Patrick McCann filed for a new trial, claiming “the verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence.”

McCann said there are three reasons why they wanted a new trial, but said he truly focused on the blood evidence found on his client’s t-shirt just days before the start of the third trial.

A.J.’s attorney also states that the Montgomery County Sergeant, Celestina Rossi, who claimed to have found the DNA evidence, has been accused of planting evidence before.

The motion will be ruled on by a federal judge, but the timeline for that ruling has not been made clear.


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