Graham man accused of killing sons, photographing a body

Gabriel Armandariz was 28 and thought his two sons were the best thing that had ever happened to him, his attorney told a Tarrant County jury on Tuesday.

“Absolutely no one loved Gatlin and Luke more than Gabriel,” Terri Moore said.

And then one day, he killed them both, Moore said.

Armandariz, now 32, is accused of tearing a strap from a cloth bag his wife used to carry groceries and using it to strangle his 8-month-old son Luke and his 2-year-old son Gatlin on April 13, 2011.

Armandariz then hid the bodies in a crawlspace under the residence they shared with relatives in Graham, a town of about 9,000 in Young County about 86 miles northwest of Fort Worth.

Armandariz was charged with capital murder and pleaded not guilty. His trial was moved to Tarrant County because of extensive pretrial publicity. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Moore appeared to be making Armandariz’s mental state a primary factor in his defense. State District Judge Stephen Bristow of Young County imposed a gag order in the case so attorneys could not be interviewed.

As she continued her opening statement, Moore broke into tears and said her client is a delusional man who wanted a family. He took care of the children on his own, teaching them to brush their teeth, bathing them, feeding them, changing diapers and taking dozens of pictures while they moved from house to house, relative to relative.

Moore compared Armandariz’s mind to a dam.

“The dam was weak, and the pressure is great,” Moore said. “The hurt is big, and he is cracking. His messages are getting weirder as the dam is cracking.”

Prosecutor Lisa Tanner told jurors that Armandariz sent text messages and gruesome photographs to the boys’ mother, Lauren Smith, to try to break her spirit and destroy her.

Smith retained a Legal Aid attorney who arranged for a court hearing so that she could get sole custody of her children. They were killed hours before the hearing was scheduled.

Armandariz called Smith “and said ‘I’m going to send you a picture,’” Tanner said. “About 4:26, two pictures come through her phone. One is a picture of baby Luke hanging from his neck, apparently dead.”

Another picture showed the two boys lying on a bed beside Armandariz with the message “We love u, goodbye” underneath.

No one wanted to believe Armandariz had killed his sons, but someone called law enforcement, Tanner said.

Meanwhile, pictures of Luke and Gatlin were circulating among Armandariz’s brothers and sisters, four of whom lived in Graham. His sister Marcella forwarded the photos to her husband, Juan Jimenez, who was with Armandariz outside of the Jimenez’s house. And she sent a text message: “Get our children away from him.”

But Jimenez’s cellphone wasn’t charged, so he did not immediately see the photo or message. By the time he did, Armandariz had left, Tanner said.

“After he sent that picture, he kept texting saying that this was her fault,” Tanner said. “Lauren told him in no uncertain terms that come Monday, she was getting her boys back.”

Armandariz replied with several messages, one which said: “Good luck with your new life and your friends whore. You should have never cheated on me and my family,” Tanner said.

Lamb County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Willoughby testified Tuesday that he thought he was going to a domestic disturbance call when he headed for Smith’s house in Sudan, about 50 miles northwest of Lubbock. When he arrived, he met a frightened Smith, and the focus of the call quickly became the picture of the baby with a rope wrapped around its neck.

“I was hoping that it was a fake,” Willoughby said.

Armandariz’s sister, Anita Armandariz, testified that she warned Smith not to get involved with her brother. Armandariz had been to prison and had been physically abusive in other relationships.

Smith didn’t listen.

The couple moved into the sister’s house for about a month, but after one fight, the sister threw him out, she testified. “He hit her, and I told him to get out of the house,” Anita Armandariz said.

Joetta Keene of Arlington is assisting Moore of Fort Worth with Armandariz’s defense. The prosecutors are from the Texas attorney general’s office. Tom Cloudt is assisting Tanner.

Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Graham man accused of killing sons, photographing a body."