Karmelo Anthony Trial 2026: Jury Deliberating in Austin Metcalf Murder

Karmelo Anthony, now 19, is on trial in Collin County, Texas for the murder of Austin Metcalf, 17, who was fatally stabbed at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco on April 2, 2025 during a district track meet. The trial began June 1, 2026 with jury selection. Both sides rested on June 8. Closing arguments are set for June 9 before the case goes to the jury. Anthony pleaded not guilty and has claimed self-defense throughout. If convicted, he faces between five years and life in prison.

Just before 10 a.m. on April 2, 2025, officers responded to reports of a stabbing at Kuykendall Stadium. Anthony, then 17 and a Centennial High School student, had entered the Memorial High School team tent, sheltering from rain. Austin Metcalf, 17, a Liberty High School student, was under that same tent. A confrontation developed. One witness testified Anthony said: 'Touch me and find out.' Metcalf pushed Anthony - contact to the shoulder area with both hands. Anthony then pulled a pocketknife from his backpack and stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Metcalf was pronounced dead at a hospital. Anthony fled, was arrested, and admitted the stabbing while claiming self-defense.

Date of stabbing: April 2, 2025, Kuykendall Stadium, Frisco. Victim: Austin Metcalf, 17, Liberty High School. Defendant: Karmelo Anthony, 19 (17 at the time), Centennial High School. Charge: Murder, first-degree, filed June 2025. Plea: Not guilty. Potential sentence: 5 to 99 years or life. Trial began: June 1, 2026, Collin County District Court, McKinney. Judge: John Roach Jr. Prosecution lead: Assistant DA Bill Wirskye. Defense attorney: Mike Howard. Prosecution witnesses called: 21. Jury: 12, sequestered, no Black jurors seated. Weapon: pocketknife with a blade under 5.5 inches.

Prosecutors framed the stabbing as a premeditated, unprovoked aggression. They labeled it a 'sneak attack inside a team tent' - a phrase designed to counter the self-defense narrative before the defense even began. They called 21 witnesses including the Collin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura, who testified that Metcalf died from a 'gaping,' fatal two-inch stab wound to the heart. Prosecutors leaned on Anthony's pre-stabbing statement 'Touch me and find out' as evidence of intent, and emphasised that Anthony carried a knife into a high school sporting event.

Defense attorney Mike Howard did not dispute that Anthony stabbed Metcalf. The entire strategy rested on Texas self-defense law. The push mattered: testimony confirmed Metcalf physically pushed Anthony before Anthony drew the knife. Howard argued the physical aggression, combined with verbal threats, put Anthony in genuine fear. Anthony's coach and a teammate testified that wandering under other teams' tents at track meets was common, undercutting the prosecution's framing of his presence as inherently aggressive. A 17-year-old defense witness described seeing Metcalf push Anthony to the shoulder area with both hands, though under cross-examination he acknowledged he had not seen everything that led to the moment of contact.

Race has surrounded the case from the start. The public response in 2025 split sharply along racial and political lines. Anthony's family, represented publicly by the Next Generation Action Network and its president Dominique Alexander, maintained Anthony acted in self-defense. His mother, Kayla Hayes, held a June 2025 press conference addressing what she described as 'lies and false accusations.' During jury selection, the defense raised a Batson challenge, arguing the prosecution improperly struck three potential Black female jurors who were similarly situated to a seated white female juror. Judge Roach denied the challenge. The seated 12-person jury has no Black members.

Closing arguments are scheduled for June 9, 2026. No timeline for a verdict has been given. Deliberations in murder trials can last hours, days, or longer. If Anthony is convicted of murder, he faces between five and 99 years or life in prison. The judge could instruct the jury on lesser included offenses, including manslaughter, which carries a lower sentencing range. If the jury returns not guilty, Anthony walks free. There is no double-jeopardy barrier to a civil wrongful death suit by the Metcalf family, which would proceed on a lower burden of proof.

The trial has been framed in public around race and politics. But inside the Collin County courtroom, the jury has one specific legal question: was Anthony in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm when he stabbed Austin Metcalf? Under Texas law, a person is justified in using force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to protect themselves against another's use of force. The jury's answer to that single question will determine whether Anthony walks free, is convicted of a lesser offense, or is convicted of murder.