Cops: Teen Son Killed Ex-NFL Player, Wife

Relatives stunned by deaths of 'power couple'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 30, 2016 9:56 AM CDT
Cops: Teen Son Killed Ex-NFL Player, Wife
Armstrong was a motivational speaker and owned the 1st Class Training gym in Bellaire   (YouTube)

In a tragedy that relatives find completely unfathomable, former NFL player Antonio Armstrong and his wife Dawn were killed at their Houston home early Friday, allegedly by their own son. The 16-year-old was arrested after police were called to the home at around 2am, KHOU reports. Dawn Armstrong died at the scene and her husband, who had a gunshot wound to the head, was pronounced dead at a local hospital hours later, the AP reports. Both parents were 42. Investigators have not disclosed a motive. "It was kinda the all-American family," says homicide detective Jimmy Dodson. "That's why we’re trying to get down to figure out what’s going on in this household." The couple also had a 20-year-old son and a daughter who was younger than the two boys.

Armstrong, a linebacker, was a Texas A&M University All-American. He played for the Miami Dolphins in 1995 and spent several years in the Canadian Football League before injury ended his career. He worked as a motivational speaker and owned a small chain of fitness centers in Houston, where relatives describe him as a pillar of the community, the Houston Chronicle reports. Vaun Lee, a cousin, says they were a "power couple" who had great relationships with their children. "They kept them busy and they supported them in everything that they did. There was not any mark that they missed with their children," Lee says. "There was nothing that even could possibly have justified this situation. This doesn't even make sense." (More Houston stories.)

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