Reporters set up outside of the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, TX, Thursday, June 4, 2026. Opening arguments are set to begin in the Karmelo Anthony trial.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
McKINNEY — From the start of Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial, there was no dispute over who plunged a knife into Austin Metcalf’s chest. The question jurors must answer is why.
The dueling accounts laid out by Collin County prosecutors and Anthony’s defense attorneys Thursday in the trial’s first hours offered sharply different perspectives jurors will be asked to weigh as the testimony unfolds.
The case, which has drawn national attention, racially charged demonstrations and online animus, centers on a dispute last year that began when Metcalf and his twin brother told Anthony to leave their team’s tent during a rainy high school track meet in Frisco.
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Anthony, now 19, was charged with murder and faces up to life in prison. Both were 17 at the time.
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Prosecutors argued Anthony provoked the confrontation, seizing on brief physical contact as an excuse to commit murder. Anthony’s defense attorneys argued he made a split-second decision in the face of a threat from teenagers larger than him — an act they say amounted to self-defense.
Because the defense has already conceded that Anthony killed Metcalf, legal experts said, the trial’s outcome will depend on how jurors interpret the moments under the tent before the stabbing.
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Surveillance video that captured the altercation from a distance was a key piece of evidence showing Anthony was guilty of murder, prosecutors said. Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye, the lead prosecutor, told jurors the case was not about race or self-defense, pointing to surveillance video he said made clear Anthony’s actions were criminal.
“The video will tell the story,” Wirskye said. “The facts of this case are as simple as this act was senseless.”
Toby Shook, one of Anthony’s defense attorneys, said the video shows Metcalf pushing Anthony, painting it as evidence the teenager was defending himself.
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Self-defense takes center stage
As in all criminal trials, prosecutors carry the burden of proving the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Once self-defense is raised, they also must persuade jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force was not justified.
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In opening statements, prosecutors focused in part on what they described as Anthony’s taunt before the stabbing. After a brief exchange under the tent, they said, Anthony challenged Metcalf to touch him and “see what happens.”
John Helms, a Dallas criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, said that focus was likely aimed at persuading jurors that self-defense laws don’t apply in the case.
Texas self-defense laws don’t protect someone who provokes a person before the deadly encounter.
“If the juror thinks that the defendant went way beyond what was necessary, either because they were angry, they felt slighted, they were trying to get revenge, for whatever reason, that’s not self-defense,” Helms said. “Self-defense is protecting yourself to the extent necessary based on the threat.”
Supporters of Karmelo Anthony chant outside of the Collin County Courthouse as Anthony’s murder trial is underway in McKinney, TX, Thursday, June 4, 2026. Anthony is accused of killing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf last April at a Frisco track meet at David Kuykendall Stadium.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Defense says Anthony faced threat
Anthony’s lead defense attorney, Mike Howard, told jurors Anthony stepped under Metcalf’s team tent to get out of the rain and talk with a friend, and was later approached by Metcalf, his twin brother, Hunter, and several others who told him to leave.
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The Metcalf brothers were several inches taller and at least 70 pounds heavier than Anthony, Howard said, and Austin Metcalf made the first physical contact.
“The thing about self-defense is you can’t use it too early,” Howard said. “Self-defense is useless if you wait too late.”
Sam Bassett, an Austin defense attorney who has tried self-defense cases, said Howard’s emphasis on the Metcalf brothers’ size and the group approaching Anthony was likely aimed at convincing jurors that Anthony perceived a threat.
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One of the defense’s toughest challenges will be convincing jurors that Anthony’s use of deadly force was proportional to the threat he perceived, Bassett said, particularly because Metcalf was unarmed.
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“That’s a real uphill battle,” Bassett said.
Other testimony heard by jurors Thursday included Mark Porter, a Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office video analyst who told the jury how he used digital tools to enhance what can be seen on video clips captured by surveillance cameras at the stadium.
Jurors also heard from two high school track coaches, including Robert Starr of Frisco Memorial High School, where the Metcalfs attended. Starr fought back tears during his testimony.
Starr said he had just returned to the stadium after retrieving a Crock-Pot for the concession stand when he saw a commotion near his team’s tent.
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He dropped the slow cooker, jumped a fence and rushed over.
“I saw Austin on the ground and his face was purple,” Starr said on the witness stand. “And there’s a big hole in his chest.”