Karmelo Anthony, a black teenager who fatally stabbed white 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet at David Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas last year, has been found guilty of murder. The verdict was reached after three hours of deliberations.
Karmelo Anthony has been found guilty of murder for the killing of Austin Metcalf.
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Karmelo Anthony, then also 17 and a student-athlete at rival Centennial High School, was arrested shortly afterward and charged with first-degree murder. Anthony, tried as an adult under Texas law, pleaded not guilty and claimed self-defense.
The two teens did not know each other prior to the incident, prosecutors established. The confrontation occurred during a rain delay. Witnesses indicated Anthony had taken shelter under the Memorial High School tent, at which point Anthony’s twin, Hunter, and a number of others repeatedly asked him to leave.
Multiple witnesses testified that Anthony refused and made a number of statements such as, “touch me and see what happens” while reaching into his backpack and later, “punch me and see what happens.”
One witness testified that Metcalf responded to Anthony’s challenge by saying, to the effect of, “Dude, I’m not gonna fight you at a track meet.” Witnesses indicated Metcalf did not appear interested in escalating to a physical fight.
Prosecution witnesses (21 total) included fellow students, coaches, first responders, and the medical examiner. Testimony and grainy surveillance video generally portrayed Anthony as the aggressor in the verbal exchange.
After being told to leave upwards of 15 times, according to witnesses, Metcalf eventually lightly shoved Anthony. At that point, the killer reached into his backpack and produced a knife before fatally stabbing Anthony in the chest.
Prosecutors argued the stabbing was a provoked, unjustified “sneak attack” with a concealed knife, not self-defense, as Anthony could not claim justification if he provoked the physical contact. They emphasized that a shove does not legally justify deadly force in this context.
On June 9, after closing arguments, the jury received instructions from the judge allowing consideration of both murder and the lesser-included offense of manslaughter. Murder requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Anthony acted intentionally or knowingly to cause death, while manslaughter applies if the jury finds he caused the death recklessly, with conscious disregard for the risk but without the specific intent for murder.
The judge ruled that evidence supported including manslaughter as an option, which is punishable by 2–20 years in prison, alongside murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. In Anthony’s case, it would be life in prison with the possibility of parole since the crime occurred when he was 17.
