A 16-year-old has been charged with murder in the tragic death of his parents, who were shot early Friday morning in their Houston home.
Former NFL player Antonio Armstrong was pronounced dead at a Houston hospital on Friday, while his wife, Dawn Armstrong, was reportedly killed in her bedroom earlier that night. Their teenage son is being charged with murder, according to KTRK-TV.
Antonio was an All-American at Texas A&M and later played for the Miami Dolphins as a linebacker.
The New York Daily News reports that the Armstrongs owned three fitness centers in the Houston area under the name 1st Class Training, and by all accounts, theirs was a loving family with no history of domestic violence.
Police and the community had nothing but kind words to say about them.
“This was an outstanding family,” said Detective Jimmy Dotson to KTRK. “The [father] was an absolute hardworking breadwinner. He’s an associate pastor at the church in the area. The mother was apparently a great mother.”
The teen, who is not named because of his age, dialed 911 around 1:30 a.m. The couple also had a teen daughter and 20-year-old son who were home at the time of the shooting but are reportedly unharmed.
“There was no neglect or anything. There was nothing that even could possibly have justified this situation,” Dawn Armstrong’s cousin Vaun Lee told reporters. “This doesn’t even make sense. It makes no sense.”
The 16-year-old will most likely be charged as an adult.
A GoFundMe campaign for the family has raised over $36,000 in 16 hours.
Read more at KTRK and the New York Daily News.