U.S. News
Karmelo Anthony Faces Up to 99 Years After Murder Conviction in Track Meet Stabbing
By Mike Harper · June 9, 2026
The jury took less than three hours. Karmelo Anthony, 19, was found guilty of murder Tuesday afternoon in the April 2025 stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. The sentencing phase began within minutes. As of Tuesday evening, the same jury is still deciding how long Anthony will spend in prison.
Anthony broke down in tears when the verdict was read. His mother, Kala Hayes, sobbed in her seat. Defense attorney Mike Howard had his arm around Anthony’s shoulder as the jury filed in. Judge John Roach turned to the defendant after reading the verdict.
“He is now remanded to the custody of the Collin County Sheriff’s Office. Take him please.”
“You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the shove.”
The defense maintained that Anthony genuinely feared for his safety when Metcalf pushed him and that he had no time to think, only to react. Anthony did not take the stand. His attorneys argued the confrontation over a team tent escalated in seconds, and that their client acted out of fear rather than malice. The jury rejected that argument.
The trial drew national attention from the start, not just for the facts but for the racial dynamics surrounding them. Anthony is Black. Metcalf was white. Every potential Black juror was struck during jury selection. A $600,000 crowdfunding campaign paid for Anthony’s defense. Months of social media debate ran well ahead of the actual legal proceedings. A crowd gathered outside the Collin County Courthouse Tuesday — “Free Karmelo” chants on one side, “Justice 4 Austin” signs on the other. Police used vehicles as barriers between them.
Austin’s twin brother Hunter sat in the courtroom for the verdict — the first time he had been allowed inside, having spent the trial on the witness list even though he never testified.
The question that remains is the sentence. After the guilty verdict, the state agreed to let the jury consider “sudden passion” — a legal finding that would reduce Anthony’s conviction to a second-degree felony and drop the sentencing range from 5-99 years or life down to 2-20 years. Sudden passion requires the jury to find that the killing arose directly from provocation by the victim. Wirskye argued in his punishment phase closing that the standard cannot apply when the defendant was the one who started it.
He closed by turning to the Metcalf family.
“There were many life sentences handed out. Meghan Metcalf life sentence. Jeff Metcalf life sentence. Hunter Metcalf life sentence.”
“Whether you like it or not, mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”
Anthony’s mother addressed the jury directly during the punishment phase.
“Have mercy on my son.”
The jury is expected to deliberate into the evening, with the court allowing them to continue until at least 11 PM. If a sentencing verdict comes before then, attorneys will hold a news conference at the courthouse. If it comes after 11, the announcement moves to Wednesday morning. Victim impact statements from the Metcalf family will follow whenever the sentence is read.
The gap between what the jury decides tonight is the gap between Anthony walking free in his mid-thirties and spending the rest of his life in a Texas prison.