Karmelo Anthony was swiftly convicted of murder Tuesday in the headline-grabbing fatal stabbing of fellow high-school jock Austin Metcalf at a track meet — and could now face life behind bars.
A jury in Collin County deliberated about three hours to find Anthony, 19, guilty of first-degree murder in the tragic doomed April 2, 2025, run-in prompted by a dispute over seating at the track and field event in Frisco.
The verdict came after four days of sometimes excruciating testimony that was so graphic it visibly shocked jurors and drove Metcalf’s family from the courtroom.
The jury, which didn’t include a single black person, heard from students and coaches who were at the Kuykendall Stadium where the fatal altercation took place, as well as from medics, officials and law-enforcement officers who responded after.
Anthony primarily relied on the argument that he committed the slaying in self-defense, although he did not take the witness stand to personally give jurors his point of view.
Experts said the move may have helped doom his chance at an acquittal.
Anthony also could have been found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, but jurors nailed him on the top rap.
Teammates of Metcalf meanwhile told the jury that the fight began when the victim, a student at Frisco Memorial High School, asked Anthony, then a 17-year-old from Frisco Centennial High School, to move out from under the Memorial team’s tent.
Anthony refused to vacate the bleacher area where the rival teammates set up their tent despite being asked roughly 15 times by Metcalf and others.
At one point during the escalating dispute, Anthony warned Metcalf, “Touch me and find out,” while his hand was in his backpack ready to grab something, witnesses said.
Metcalf eventually shoved Anthony, and the killer teen whipped out a semi-serrated folding knife from his bag, plunging it once into the victim’s chest, according to testimony.
Metcalf’s twin brother Hunter and others rushed to try to save the mortally wounded student, while Anthony ditched his knife and made for the exit before coaches stopped him, jurors heard.
Anthony told the coaches he warned Metcalf not to touch him and admitted to the stabbing but contended it was in self-defense.
A fellow classmate of Anthony testified Monday that the killer appeared “distraught,” crying and hugging a coach in the moments after the attack.
The trial featured graphic testimony and photos that shook jurors, including autopsy photos of Metcalf’s 2-inch wound and his pierced heart.
Metcalf’s family stepped out of the courtroom for the disturbing evidence and became emotional at various points of the trial, including when one coach broke down on the witness stand recalling Austin’s death.
Anthony will be sentenced by the judge.
