Texas teen gets 35 years in track meet stabbing

A Texas jury sentenced Karmelo Anthony to 35 years in prison Tuesday for murdering Austin Metcalf, a fellow high school student fatally stabbed during a rain-soaked track meet in Frisco last year.

The sentence came hours after the Collin County jury found Anthony, now 19, guilty of murder in the April 2, 2025, killing of Metcalf, 17. Jurors reached the verdict in less than three hours, according to NBC News, and later rejected defense arguments that Anthony acted under “sudden passion,” a finding that could have reduced his punishment. CBS News reported jurors took two-and-a-half hours to decide the sentence.

Anthony faced a punishment range of five to 99 years or life in prison. He was 17 at the time of the stabbing, but Texas law allowed him to be charged as an adult.

The case drew national attention, including online debate over race. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Attorneys selected 12 jurors and six alternates, and none of the jurors was Black. Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, addressed the issue in court after sentencing, saying “this was never about race or politics” and adding, “We’re all humans. We all bleed the same color.”

Anthony and Metcalf attended different Frisco Independent School District high schools: Anthony went to Centennial High School, and Metcalf attended Memorial High School. Both were 17 when they encountered each other at the districtwide track meet. A rain shower led some athletes to seek shelter under team tents. Centennial did not have a tent that day, and Anthony went under Memorial’s tent before the confrontation turned deadly.

Anthony admitted stabbing Metcalf, but his lawyers said he acted in self-defense after being confronted by Memorial athletes and told to leave. The defense argued Metcalf and his twin brother, Hunter, were physically intimidating, describing them as about 6 feet 1 inch tall and 213 pounds, compared with Anthony at 5 feet 8 inches and about 130 pounds. Defense attorney Mike Howard said the case turned on a “split second of chaos” and argued prosecutors had failed to prove Anthony did “anything but defend himself.”

Prosecutors said Anthony was responsible for a deliberate killing. Prosecuting attorney Bill Wirskye quoted a witness who said Anthony warned Metcalf, “Touch me and find out,” and said video evidence showed the confrontation was one-on-one, not a group attack. The stabbing, Wirskye told jurors, “is murder, murder, murder.”

Witnesses testified that Metcalf pushed Anthony at one point to get him to move, though they differed on how hard the push was. A school resource officer testified that after the stabbing, Anthony said he had warned Metcalf not to touch him, admitted the stabbing and asked whether Metcalf was going to be OK.

Metcalf was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. His father has said he died in Hunter’s arms.

The courtroom was emotional as Texas District Court Judge John Roach Jr. read the verdict. Hunter Metcalf, who had been barred from the courtroom earlier because he was on the witness list, leaned forward. Anthony’s mother wept, and Anthony broke down in tears.

During sentencing, Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes, was the only defense witness. “He’s my oldest, he’s my firstborn,” she said. “He will always be my baby.” Asked whether her son regretted what he did, she said, “Yes, he’s very sorry for what he did.”

Metcalf’s mother, Meghan, called her son a “peacemaker” and “protector” and addressed Anthony directly: “You may have just been given a sentence of 35 years. You should feel lucky, because I’ve been sentenced to a life without my son.”

Hunter Metcalf said he had spent much of the past year learning how to forgive, but told Anthony, “You took someone from me who was supposed to be uncle, godfather to my kids. Now I want everything taken from you.”

After sentencing, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said outside the courthouse that the process had “delivered accountability.” Anthony was remanded to the custody of the Collin County sheriff’s office.