Karmelo Anthony Stabbing: Verdict, 35-Year Sentence, and Appeal

A Collin County jury found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder on June 9, 2026, and sentenced him to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco high school track meet on April 2, 2025. The Karmelo Anthony stabbing trial verdict rejected his claim of self-defense, and jurors unanimously found that he had not acted under sudden passion, which would have capped his sentence at 20 years.¹²

What Happened at the Track Meet

Anthony, then a 17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, entered a tent assigned to Memorial High School during a rainy UIL district track meet at Kuykendall Stadium. Witnesses said Memorial students asked him to leave roughly 15 times over about two minutes. He stood with his hands inside his backpack and allegedly said, “Touch me and find out.”³ When Metcalf leaned in to push him out, Anthony stabbed him once in the chest with a folding knife he had carried in his backpack.⁴

The wound penetrated 2.5 inches into Metcalf’s chest, perforating the sac around his heart and piercing the right ventricle. He was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m.⁴ When a school resource officer stopped Anthony at the north end of the track, body camera footage captured him saying, “I was protecting myself” and “He put his hands on me.” When the officer described him as the “alleged suspect,” Anthony replied, “I’m not alleged. I did it.”⁵

Because Anthony was 17 at the time, Texas law automatically treated him as an adult for prosecution. A Collin County grand jury indicted him on a murder charge in June 2025, and the case was assigned to Judge John Roach Jr.⁶⁷

The Prosecution’s Case

The trial ran seven days, with four days of testimony.¹ Lead prosecutor Bill Wirskye of the Collin County District Attorney’s office called the killing “unjustified, provoked, murder.” His argument was that bringing a concealed folding knife to a school event reflected a “mindset” of aggression, and that answering a shove with a fatal stab was grossly disproportionate. “You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab,” Wirskye told jurors, “especially if you provoke the shove.”²

Prosecutors played surveillance footage from five stadium cameras, enhanced by a forensic video analyst, showing Anthony entering the Memorial tent from behind. Jurors also heard the 911 call in which Coach Joshua Rebmann could be heard urging Metcalf to “stay with me,” and saw police body camera footage of officers performing CPR.⁵

Memorial students testified that Anthony was the aggressor and that the group was not “ganging up” on him. One described the moment plainly: “Austin leans in to push him, and Karmelo stabs him.” Witnesses also placed Austin’s twin brother, Hunter, on the far side of the tent, looking at his phone, and uninvolved until after the stabbing.³

The Self-Defense Argument

The defense argued that Anthony feared for his safety and that the stabbing was self-defense. Defense attorneys pointed to body camera footage in which Anthony told an officer that Metcalf “put his hands on me” and asked, “Is he OK?”⁸⁹

Anthony did not testify. The defense rested on June 8, 2026, without calling him to the stand. Under Texas law, a self-defense claim typically calls for the defendant to acknowledge the act and present evidence of a reasonable fear, and legal observers suggested the choice may have signaled a strategic pivot toward a manslaughter verdict rather than acquittal.⁸ The defense also had to contend with the timing witnesses described: the knife appeared almost immediately, with no evidence of an extended physical struggle.

Jury Selection and the Batson Challenge

Jury selection produced one of the trial’s most contested moments. Defense attorneys raised a Batson challenge, accusing prosecutors of improperly striking the three Black candidates remaining in the pool. The prosecution said the strikes reflected the candidates’ status as educators, not their race. Judge Roach denied the challenge.¹⁰ The seated 12-person jury included no Black members. During voir dire, Assistant District Attorney Dewey Mitchell said he had never before had to have an “explicit conversation about race with a jury panel.”¹¹

Anthony is Black and Metcalf was white, and the case drew heavy public attention framed in racial terms. Wirskye told jurors in his opening that the case was “not about race or self-defense,” and Metcalf’s father publicly said, “This was not a race thing.”¹¹¹²

The Guilty Verdict

On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, the jury deliberated for about three hours before returning a verdict of guilty of murder.¹ The self-defense claim was rejected.

Sentencing and the Sudden Passion Question

The punishment phase turned on the legal question of “sudden passion.” Judge Roach instructed jurors that if they found Anthony had acted under sudden passion arising from provocation by Metcalf, his sentence would be capped at 20 years. Without that finding, the range was five to 99 years or life.²

Wirskye argued that sudden passion did not apply because Anthony was the provoker, citing testimony about his threats and his decision to bring a concealed knife. Defense attorney Mike Howard countered that Anthony reacted in a moment of terror that left no time for “cool reflection.”¹³ Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes, testified during sentencing, calling her son her “first born” and saying he was “very sorry for what he did.”¹⁴ Wirskye pushed for a life sentence, telling jurors that “mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”²

After nearly three hours, the jury unanimously found no sudden passion and set the sentence at 35 years. Anthony was remanded to the Collin County Sheriff’s Office immediately.¹²

Victim Impact and Family Reactions

Austin’s mother, Meghan Metcalf, told the jury her son was a “morning kid,” a “hugger,” and a “peacemaker.” “My son was murdered; he didn’t just die,” she said. Jeff Metcalf described starting a scholarship in Austin’s memory and the pain of being “robbed” of watching his son grow up. Hunter Metcalf addressed Anthony directly: “You took a son, a brother, a friend, my best friend from this world.”¹⁵

After the verdict, Jeff Metcalf called the outcome “bittersweet” and said he had forgiven Anthony “for my own well-being,” adding, “He deserves what he gets because we’re all responsible for our actions.” He also reported receiving death threats after the trial.¹⁶ Anthony’s parents said their son did not receive a fair trial and called it a “setup,” maintaining that the verdict “sends a clear message … you don’t have a right to defend yourself, even if you’re attacked or ganged up on.”¹⁷

Appeal and Where Anthony Is Now

On June 10, 2026, the day after his conviction, Anthony was transferred to the Wallace Pack Unit, a medium-security Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility near Navasota in Grimes County.¹⁸ Under Texas law, he will be eligible for parole after serving half of his 35-year sentence.¹⁹

His defense team filed a notice of appeal the same day. Attorney Mike Howard said, “We believe there are several important issues for the appellate courts to consider.”²⁰ Anthony also requested a court-appointed appellate attorney, citing financial hardship. The Batson challenge over the struck Black jurors is widely viewed as a potential ground for appeal, though as of mid-June 2026 no specific legal arguments had been formally articulated in filings.²¹

Judge Roach addressed lingering public controversy after sentencing, defending his ban on courtroom cameras and denying rumors of any personal connection to the Metcalf family. On the jury composition, he said the panel was “picked based upon the law” and the jurors “listened to the facts.” He described Anthony as a “nice young man who committed a crime” and added, “As long as I follow the law, I sleep well at night.”²²

1
Dallas Observer. Karmelo Anthony Trial Verdict: Guilty of Murder
2
WFAA. Karmelo Anthony Track Meet Stabbing Trial: Closing Arguments and Live Updates
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CBS News. Frisco Students Testify at Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial
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NBC DFW. Frisco Track Meet Stabbing: The Tragic Perfect Storm of April 2, 2025
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Fox 4 News. Frisco Track Meet Stabbing: Karmelo Anthony Austin Metcalf Trial
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USA Today. Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial: Jury Deliberation Begins
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TDCAA. The Basics of Juvenile Law
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New York Post. Karmelo Anthony Refuses to Take Stand at Murder Trial
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Forbes. The Karmelo Anthony Case Highlights Concerns About Bullying, Adolescent Mental Health
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Dallas Morning News. Frisco Track Meet Stabbing Jury Selection Nears
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Fox 7 Austin. Karmelo Anthony Trial: State Rests After Jurors Hear Testimony
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NewsNation. Karmelo Anthony Trial: Race and Justice Debate
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Fox 4 News. Karmelo Anthony Trial Live Updates: Frisco Track Meet Stabbing
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Houston Public Media. Karmelo Anthony Austin Metcalf Stabbing Track Meet Frisco
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CBS News. Live Updates: Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial
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CBS News. Karmelo Anthony Austin Metcalf Family Interview Murder Sentence
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TMZ. Karmelo Anthony Parents Argue Self-Defense
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Washington Times. Karmelo Anthony Transferred to State Prison, Appeals Murder Conviction
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Newsweek. Karmelo Anthony Update: Prison Conditions and Next Steps in Appeal Process
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USA Today. Karmelo Anthony Trial Case Appeal Latest
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Houston Public Media. Karmelo Anthony Appeals Collin County Murder Conviction
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Yahoo News. Judge in Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial