Karmelo Anthony sentenced to 35 years for murder in track meet stabbing trial
A jury in Collin County on Tuesday rejected the defense assessment that a killing at a high school track meet was justified by self-defense and found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf.
The panel reached a verdict on punishment about 7 p.m., directing a judge to sentence Anthony to 35 years in prison and also rejecting a sudden passion argument. The jury began about 4:35 p.m. Tuesday to deliberate on punishment after a one-witness second phase of the trial in the case in which the defendant and victim were 17 at the time of the killing.
Judge John Roach had directed the jury to consider a sentence of between five and 99 years, or life, or, if it found that Anthony was under the influence of sudden passion, two to 20 years. Anthony, who is 19, must serve half of the term, 17 1/2 years, before he becomes eligible for parole.
Victim impact statements
After the sentencing verdict, Metcalf’s aunt, parents and twin brother read victim impact statements.
“I will forever miss the remarkable young man Austin was,” his aunt said, according to KXAS-TV.
“There is a void that can never be filled,” she said. “Our faith has sustained us. That faith does not lessen the pain of losing him.”
Austin’s mother, Meghan Metcalf, next spoke to Anthony, who slightly raised his head from where he had rested it on a table, WFAA-TV reported.
“We will never know what our future could have been,” the mother said, crying. “For journalists, activists, this is a story. For our family, this is our reality.”
“My house is now quiet,” Meghan Metcalf said, and all her conversations with her son are at his grave. “He didn’t just die. He was taken from us.”
Addressing the defendant angrily, the mother said, “You should feel lucky you got 35 years because I’ve been given a life sentence without my son.”
Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf, also expressed his anger to the defendant, saying “We were robbed!” and telling Anthony, “Don’t look down!”
Testimony and evidence in the trial has not focused on race, but social media posts and protests outside the courthouse have divided along racial lines in a case where the victim was white and the defendant is Black.
“This was never about race,” Jeff Metcalf said, according to WFAA. “It is about right and wrong.”
“My boys weren’t bullies,” the father said, adding that he has been harassed by activists. “I’ve been swatted six times.”
“My son’s death destroyed the person I used to be,” the father said. “... People think grief is sadness — it is not. It is rage. Pure unfiltered rage.”
Austin’s twin, Hunter Metcalf, spoke last and told Anthony, “You took everything from me.”
“You took a son, a brother, a friend, and my best friend from this world,” Hunter said. “You took someone from me who was supposed to be an uncle, godfather to my kids. Now I want everything taken from you.”
After court adjourned, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis made a statement as he stood alongside the Metcalf family.
“Today, justice was served,” Willis said. “A year ago, when this senseless murder unfolded, I said it had struck a deep nerve in Collin County and far beyond. I asked our community to ignore all the noise, and instead be level-headed and patient as the processed worked. Today, the process delivered accountability.”
“We are grateful to this jury, and we are grateful that the good citizens of Colin County had an opportunity to weigh in on this case,” he said. “I’m proud of the exceptional work of Bill Wirskye, and our team of prosecutors, DA investigators and victim advocates, and all the good and outstanding men and women of the Collin County District Attorney’s office.”
Willis also thanked the “brave kids” who testified in the case and thanked the Metcalf family.
“Their strength and grace throughout this unimaginable journey has been inspiring,” he said. “They won’t be taking questions at this time, but their presence speaks volumes about their commitment to seeking justice for Austin.”
Punishment arguments included sudden passion
In the state’s punishment closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Dewey Mitchell told the jury, “You are about to hear a lot about the age of this defendant,” according to WFAA-TV. “Absolutely, talk about his age. I’m also going to ask you to consider the age of Austin Metcalf.”
Mitchell showed the jury an April 2, 2025, photo taken at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco in which coaches are gathered around Metcalf, performing chest compressions, while at least four people prayed nearby.
First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye argued that sudden passion does not apply in the Anthony case. It requires a finding that the stabbing was “directly caused by and arising out of provocation by the individual killed,” Wirskye said.
While Wirskye did not ask the jury to assess a precise number of years, he argued that it should “hand out a sentence that is meaningful.”
“Everyone in the nation will know how you reacted to senseless loss and murder,” he told the jury, according to WFAA.
“Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent,” Wirskye said.
In his closing argument, defense attorney Mike Howard said, “Anyone who stands up here and tells you ... a number clearly doesn’t understand how hard your job is. I can only ask you to consider both sides, follow your heart, and follow the law.”
Speaking on sudden passion, Howard said that it is a finding that emotion caused by provocation led to an act made in the heat of the moment, KXAS-TV reported. “Sudden passion doesn’t mean blaming Austin or Hunter or any of those Memorial kids under that tent,” he said. “This is not about blaming a victim.”
Surveillance video shows that the altercation between the two students happened in “mere seconds,” Howard said. If the jury believes that “Karmelo felt terror in that moment such that it rendered his mind incapable that he didn’t have time for cool reflection, then sudden passion applies,” he said.
“I ask you to consider both sides,” Howard said. “Yes, the Metcalfs have been irrevocably changed by this, and all of our hearts go out to them. The Anthonys, too. There are innocent people on both sides who have lost significantly.”
The jury deliberated for about three hours before it reached its guilty verdict shortly before 2 p.m.
A crowd of supporters on both sides grew outside the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney to await the verdicts. Some in the crowd shouted at each other as deputies surrounded them to calm the tension.
Anthony’s mother asked jury for mercy
A punishment phase can include evidence of other crimes or bad acts and witness testimony on character and the effect on the families.
The prosecution called no witnesses in the punishment phase. The defense called Anthony’s mother, Kala Hayes, as its only witness and asked few questions, KXAS-TV reported.
“He’s my oldest,” said Hayes, who began crying, according to KXAS. “He’ll always be my baby. I love him very much.”
Karmelo also appeared to be crying as his mother spoke, KXAS reported.
“Do you believe Melo regrets what he did?” defense attorney Howard asked.
“Yes, I know my son, and he’s very sorry for what he did,” Hayes said.
“Is there anything you want to tell the jury?” Howard asked.
“Please have mercy on my son,” Hayes said.
On cross examination, prosecutor Wirskye asked Hayes if Anthony “still gets to be a part of your life,” and she said yes, WFAA reported.
Self-defense arguments in guilt-innocence phase
In closing arguments in trial’s guilt-innocence phase on Tuesday morning, Howard said that Metcalf did not have the legal authority to “put his hands on” Anthony, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“A hit, a shove, a push,” Howard told the jury, “’Melo had an absolute right to defend himself from that.”
Anger flared in the altercation between the two students under a Memorial High School tent at the track meet, witnesses said.
Metcalf was a Memorial High School student. Anthony was a student at Centennial High School.
Prosecutors argued Anthony could have left the tent when he was confronted by Metcalf, Howard said.
“I am sure he wishes he did,” the defense attorney said, according to WFAA.
The Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s Office described Metcalf’s killing in Frisco as an unjustified, provoked murder.
Anthony “had a secret — he had a knife that day,” Wirskye said in the state’s closing argument. “He was always gonna come out on top that day. That is a mindset.”
“You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab — especially if you provoke a shove,” Wirskye told the jury.
Judge Roach included a legal advisory on self-defense justification in the jury’s instructions. The judge, who presided at the trial in the 296th District Court in Collin County, denied a defense request for the jury to be permitted to consider criminally negligent homicide, but jurors were instructed to consider manslaughter, a reckless killing.
The defense argued that Anthony sought shelter from rain under the Memorial tent because his school did not have a tent. The defense attorney said Anthony was sitting down and talking to someone he knew when Austin Metcalf and Metcalf’s twin brother confronted him.
Witnesses told police that the two 17-year-old students fought after Metcalf asked Anthony to move from under the Memorial High School tent at Kuykendall Stadium, and that Metcalf either pushed or grabbed Anthony before Anthony pulled a knife from his bag and stabbed Metcalf in the chest.
Anthony cried and told officers that he acted in self-defense and that Metcalf had “put his hands on me. I told him not to,” according to a police report.
Anthony elected not to testify in either phase of the trial.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Karmelo Anthony sentenced to 35 years for murder in track meet stabbing trial."
