McKinney, Texas (meigsindypress) — A jury convicted a Texas teenager of murder and sentenced him to 35 years in prison on Tuesday for fatally stabbing a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team during a high school meet, a case that drew wide attention beyond the booming Dallas suburb where the two students lived.
The jury rejected Karmelo Anthony’s claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in stadium bleachers last year. Most witnesses were students who described a heated exchange that erupted when Anthony refused, on a rainy spring day, to leave a tent belonging to Metcalf’s team.
Anthony, now 19, did not testify at trial, and only his mother took the stand during the sentencing phase, telling jurors that her son was sorry and asking for their mercy.
The case gained notoriety in part because a flood of social media posts amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors that race had nothing to do with the tragedy.
Jeff Metcalf, Austin’s father, had also criticized those who sought to stoke racial divisions after his son was killed. A year later, his voice swelled with anger as he again told the court that the case was never about race.
“You failed your parents, you failed yourself and you failed society,” Metcalf said, looking at Anthony after the teenager was sentenced.
Jurors deliberated for less than three hours and had the option to choose a lesser charge, manslaughter, but didn’t.
Austin Metcalf KTVT
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye had asked for a lengthy prison term.
“Mercy to the guilty,” he said, “is cruelty to the innocent.”
Earlier Tuesday, during closing arguments, the jury heard dueling narratives from Wirskye and defense attorney Mike Howard about what happened in April 2025.
Several schools were competing when Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent perched in the bleachers. Witnesses testified that Austin Metcalf and others repeatedly told Anthony to leave, leading to an escalating confrontation.
Howard told jurors that Metcalf had “no legal right to put his hands on Karmelo.”
“Texas law does not require that you wait until you get hit,” Howard said. “In that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes.”
During the nearly weeklong trial, prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses testified that Anthony was the aggressor.
“This is not self-defense, folks. It’s murder plain and simple,” Wirskye said.
According to a police report, Anthony reached inside a bag at one point and replied, “Touch me and see what happens.”
Witnesses said Metcalf pushed Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest. The two teens, both from Frisco, didn’t know each other.
“You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the shove,” Wirskye said.
The prosecutor also made a broader pitch to the jury: “Ultimately, this case is about accountability. What kind of community do you want to live in.”
The trial drew lines of spectators hoping to find seats in the gallery and unfolded amid heavy security at the Collin County courthouse. Dozens of people stood outside the courthouse in 90 degree heat to await the verdict as police officers watched Tuesday. One woman wailed in grief — “This isn’t real!” — when the result became known.
Karmelo Anthony Frisco Police Department
Frisco, one of Texas’ fastest-growing cities, is dotted with dozens of modern school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities. The parents of Anthony and Metcalf have said both teens were good students who planned to go to college.
Several students testified that Metcalf scoffed after ordering Anthony to leave his team’s tent, before Anthony reached into a bag and pulled out a knife.
One teen recalled Metcalf telling Anthony, “You don’t have anything in that backpack. It’s Frisco.”
Leave a Reply