HOUSTON – It’s been a little more than a year since Antonio “AJ” Armstrong was convicted of killing his parents. Kate Ober, his wife, has filed for divorce; court records indicate she filed the paperwork in September.
The couple had been together since high school, and Ober remained by Armstrong’s side throughout each of his three murder trials.
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Antonio “AJ” Armstrong Jr. was found guilty of murdering his parents, Dawn and Antonio Sr., at the family’s southwest Houston home in 2016. Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
After the verdict was announced in 2023, deputies escorted Armstrong out of the courtroom, where he blew a kiss at Ober, who began crying.
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Because Armstrong was a minor at the time of the murder, he will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years. He has since filed to appeal his conviction.
KPRC 2’s ‘The Bench’ covered the case extensively, decoding complex legal terms, breaking down trial strategies, and providing daily courtroom updates.
Three months after his conviction, Ober gave her only interview with KPRC 2’s Rilwan Balogun.
In her November 2023 interview, Kate described how difficult it had been adjusting to life without AJ.
“I mean, I lost my best friend and my husband and the father of my child in one moment, and I haven’t been able to see him,” she said. “As soon as he was transferred to the state prison, I haven’t 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 really worried about him. That’s not an easy thing to be put through.”
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A month later, KPRC 2 became the first outlet to interview Armstrong from prison. Separated by a glass partition and speaking through a phone, Armstrong declared his innocence and expressed his intent to share his side of the story for the first time since being accused—and now convicted—of murdering his parents.
The couple shares a son together, and Balogun broached the topic of parenting during the interview. Armstrong shared his perspective:
“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,” Armstrong told Balogun in 2023. “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.”