Gabriel Armandariz , 32 , of Graham , Texas , was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday . He was convicted last month for strangling his two sons , Gatlin , two , and Luke , eight months , in April 2011 . Hours before killing them he sent text messages to his ex and the mother of the boys , Lauren Smith , threatening to kill them . He then sent her a photo of what appeared to be the youngest boy , Luke , dead and dangling from a closet ceiling with a cloth around his neck ' After receiving the photo of her son , Smith called police who found the boys dead and wrapped in a tarp in the crawl space under Armandariz 's home . The father had been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year after admitting that he did not know how long it would take him to die because he couldn't stand up or move.
Gabriel Armandariz , 32 , of Graham , Texas , was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday . He was convicted last month for strangling his two sons , Gatlin , two , and Luke , eight months , in April 2011 . Hours before killing them he sent text messages to his ex and the mother of the boys , Lauren Smith , threatening to kill them . He then sent her a photo of what appeared to be the youngest boy , Luke , dead and dangling from a closet ceiling with a cloth around his neck ' After receiving the photo of her son , Smith called police who found the boys dead and wrapped in a tarp in the crawl space under Armandariz 's home . He will be transferred to the Texas Department of Corrections to serve his sentence .