Graham man said boys’ mother told him to kill them, reporter testifies

A Graham man accused of killing his two young sons in 2011 told a television reporter after his arrest that the boys’ mother told him to kill the boys and that he could not resist her wishes.

A video of the reporter’s interview was played for the jury Wednesday in the capital murder trial of Gabriel Armandariz, 32, who is accused of strangling Luke, 8 months, and Gatlin, 2, on April 13, 2011, in Graham.

His trial was moved to Tarrant County because of extensive pretrial publicity around Graham. Young County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Jessica Holley, then a reporter for Wichita Falls television station KFDX, testified Wednesday that she interviewed Armandariz at the Young County Jail three months after the boys’ death.

Armandariz told her that the mother, Lauren Smith, told him to kill the children.

“We had split up, and she did not want the responsibility,” Armandariz said. “She’s got this hold on me and I cannot tell her no.”

Armandariz made a similar statement to a 911 call taker moments after the boys died, according to earlier testimony. Then, Armandariz said he hated Smith for making him do something so terrible.

Armandariz repeated those statements on camera to Holley and wondered aloud why news programs had not played the recording of his 911 call.

“I hate her for asking me to do such a thing,” Armandariz said.

Armandariz said he knew investigators were saying the boys were hanged by their necks, but he insisted that they did not die like that. However, he refused to tell Holley how his children were killed, explaining that his attorney told him not to speak to anyone about his case.

“Not to put the complete blame on her, but to get evidence that this is not what I wanted,” Armandariz said. “You know she got an abortion just because she did not want to have one of my children. She never wanted to be a mother. I wanted to settle down but she didn’t want it. I kept hoping she’d change.”

Holley asked Armandariz whether he should receive the death penalty.

“That’s a hard question to answer,” Armandariz replied. “I can’t say send me to heaven because I deserve it, because I don’t. Then why should I live, you know.”

Prosecutors have said he hid the bodies in the crawl space under the house they shared with relatives in Graham. Smith had left him and moved to Sudan, near Lubbock. Armandariz sent her a cellphone photo of her youngest child hanging from a closet ceiling with a green strap wrapped around his neck.

Earlier Wednesday, Smith continued the testimony she began on Tuesday about the couple’s troubled relationship.

Smith, now 26, testified that she first met Armandariz when she was 17 and her first child from an earlier failed relationship was 17 months old.

She eventually lost full custody of the child because the father’s family complained it was not safe for the child to be around Armandariz.

Smith said Armandariz became abusive when he drank.

“When it was good, it was good,” Smith said. “But when it was bad, it was bad. He would go weeks, months without drinking. Then there would be a beer here and there, then more, and then there would be a problem.”

Smith testified that she was pregnant three times with Armandariz‘s children but had an abortion between Gatlin and Luke. She said she told Armandariz that she had a miscarriage and he was “devastated.”

“I could not bring myself to tell him that I had an abortion,” Smith said. “Admitting I was not pregnant anymore was hard. And seeing him react that way broke my heart.”

She testified that Armandariz became so distraught about the loss of the baby that she called the police, concerned he might commit suicide. Smith said she left him while she was pregnant, but they got back together again soon after the abortion.

“I asked police to look in on Gabriel because he had Gatlin and he told me he was suicidal,” Smith said.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Thursday.

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Graham man said boys’ mother told him to kill them, reporter testifies."