{"id":329582,"date":"2026-06-09T20:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/329582\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T20:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:16:11","slug":"karmelo-anthony-trial-update-north-texas-teen-found-guilty-of-murder-in-stabbing-death-of-austing-metcalf-at-track-meet-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/329582\/","title":{"rendered":"Karmelo Anthony trial update: North Texas teen found guilty of murder in stabbing death of Austing Metcalf at track meet"},"content":{"rendered":"

MCKINNEY, Texas — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team\u00a0during a meet<\/a>\u00a0was convicted of murder Tuesday in a trial that drew national attention far beyond the booming Dallas suburb where the two students attended different high schools.<\/p>\n

A jury rejected Karmelo Anthony\u2019s claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in the stadium\u2019s bleachers last year. Anthony, now 19, didn\u2019t testify. Most who did were students who described a heated exchange over him refusing to leave a tent belonging to Metcalf\u2019s team during a rainy competition.<\/p>\n

Anthony faces up to life in prison upon sentencing.<\/p>\n

The trial drew lines of spectators hoping to find seats in the gallery and unfolded amid heavy security at a courthouse in Collin County. Anthony and Metcalf attended separate schools in Frisco, one of Texas\u2019 fastest-growing cities that is dotted with dozens of modern school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities.<\/p>\n

Several students testified that Metcalf, after ordering Anthony to leave his team\u2019s tent, scoffed before Anthony reached a hand into a bag and pulled out a knife.<\/p>\n

One teenage witness\u00a0recalled Metcalf telling Anthony,<\/a>\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t have anything in that backpack. It\u2019s Frisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside attention on the case spread, in part, over social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors that the case had nothing to do with race.<\/p>\n

Instead, prosecutor Bill Wirskye called the stabbing a \u201csneak, surprise attack\u201d and accused Anthony of egging on the confrontation. Mike Howard, an attorney for Anthony, said his client acted in a \u201csplit second of fear, chaos\u201d after Metcalf made the first physical contact.<\/p>\n

The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April 2025. Teenage witnesses said the confrontation began after Anthony sat under a tent belonging to the track team of Memorial High School, where Metcalf was in his junior year.<\/p>\n

Other students competing at the meet testified that several athletes told Anthony to leave the tent and that he was the aggressor. When Metcalf told Anthony he needed to move, Anthony reached inside a bag and replied: \u201cTouch me and see what happens,\u201d according to a police report.<\/p>\n

Metcalf then pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony reacted by pulling out a knife and stabbing Metcalf in the chest.<\/p>\n

One teammate told jurors that Anthony was \u201cdistraught\u201d after the stabbing. Judge John Roach Jr. ordered that the names of teenage witnesses not be made public.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hearing him say, \u2018I told him not to touch me,\u2019\u201d the teenager said.<\/p>\n

The parents of both Anthony and Metcalf have said they were good students who planned to go to college.<\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MCKINNEY, Texas — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team\u00a0during a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[117705,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-329582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-117705","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}