Karmelo Anthony’s (left) found guilty of the murder of Austin Metcalf in Texas.
The murder of Texas teen Austin Metcalf became one of the most closely followed cases in the US in the past year, and on Tuesday, the jury convicted Karmelo Anthony of stabbing Metcalf at a sports track meet. The case grabbed national headlines as Karmelo Anthony is Black. Karmelo Anthony garnered a lot of support because of his race, and his supporters portrayed Austin Metcalf as a bully. They raised funds for Karmelo and as the verdict was reached, his supporters made chaos created a ruckus outside the court.The stabbing took place on April 2, 2025 when Anthony and Metcalf met for the first time at a Frsico stadium. They were from rival schools and an altercation broke out over seating. Karmelo Anthony took out a knife and stabbed Austin Metcalf who died in the arms of his twin brother who was sitting next to him. Karmelo Anthony’s lawyer argued that the stabbing was in self-defense and that Metcalf used force to remove Karmelo Anthony from where he was sitting. “Austin Metcalf had no legal right to use force to eject Karmelo Anthony from that tent,” Anthony’s lawyer, Mike Howard, said during closing arguments at the Collin County trial — as Anthony looked on intently from the defense table. “He had the right to ask him to leave, but he didn’t have any legal right to use force,” Howard said of Metcalf, according to a report by the Daily Mail. Witnesses testified that several members of Frisco Memorial High School, including Metcalf, asked Anthony, then a 17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, to leave their team tent roughly 15 times. Metcalf eventually shoved Anthony, who responded by plunging a semi-serrated folding knife once in Metcalf’s chest, students testified. Howard said Anthony “had an absolute right to defend himself.
