Late in the day Friday, Judge Kelli Johnson, presiding over the high-profile double capital murder trial of Antonio .J. Armstrong, Jr., charged with the shooting deaths of his parents in their southwest Houston home in 2016, declared a mistrial.
The jury had expressed trouble with their deliberations on Thursday and were told by the judge to continue. On Friday they again said they were not coming to a unanimous conclusion and were told by the judge to stay at it. But late in the day they again said they were deadlocked, and the judge agreed to the defense request that a mistrial be declared. Eight of the jurors say they were prepared to vote for a guilty verdict while four said the prosecution had not made their case. They had deliberated for 19 hours.
Armstrong will be back in court at the end of May. The DA’s office says they will try the case again.