06/09/26 01:35:00
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06/09 13:34 CDT Jury deliberating in the trial of a Texas teen charged with
murder in school track meet stabbing
Jury deliberating in the trial of a Texas teen charged with murder in school
track meet stabbing
By JAMIE STENGLE
Associated Press
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) --- The fatal stabbing of a high school athlete at a Texas
track competition was "murder plain and simple," a prosecutor declared Tuesday
before a jury began deliberations in a high-profile trial centered on youth and
tragedy at a community sports event.
Karmelo Anthony, now 19, did not testify in his own defense about the killing
of Austin Metcalf, 17, whose death in April 2025 stunned Frisco, a booming
Dallas suburb where the two students attended different schools.
Jurors heard dueling narratives from prosecutor Bill Wirskye and defense
attorney Mike Howard, who repeatedly emphasized during his closing argument
that Anthony was defending himself after Metcalf tried to eject Anthony, a
Centennial High School student, from the Memorial High School track team's tent.
Howard told jurors that Metcalf had "no legal right to put his hands on
Karmelo."
"Texas law does not require that you wait until you get hit," Howard said. "In
that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes."
During the nearly weeklong trial, prosecutors have said that Anthony provoked
Metcalf, and witnesses have testified that Anthony was the aggressor.
"This is not self-defense, folks. It's murder plain and simple," Wirskye told
jurors Tuesday.
The courtroom at the Collin County courthouse was packed again as the public
passed through an extra security checkpoint to get inside and watch before
jurors began their deliberations.
Several schools were competing on a rainy April day when Anthony sat under the
Memorial High's tent that was perched in the bleachers. Metcalf and others had
repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating
confrontation.
Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: "Touch me and see what
happens," according to a police report.
Metcalf then pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony reacted
by pulling out a knife and stabbing Metcalf in the chest.
"You don't get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the
shove," Wirskye said.
He said deadly force has to be "immediately necessary" to be legal and that
Anthony could have walked away and abandoned "the encounter that he'd provoked."
Wirskye also made a broader pitch to the jury: "Ultimately, this case is about
accountability. What kind of community do you want to live in."
Howard noted that Metcalf and Anthony did not know each other. He said Anthony
"had absolutely no motive, other than that he felt he was in danger."
Anthony could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder. Judge John
Roach Jr. said the jury also could consider a lesser charge of manslaughter,
which carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
If jurors don't reach a verdict Tuesday, they'll be sequestered without phones
in a hotel.
One teammate told jurors that Anthony was "distraught" after the stabbing.
"I was hearing him say, ?I told him not to touch me,'" the teenager testified
Monday.
The judge ordered that the names of teenage witnesses not be made public.
The stabbing quickly drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts
that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors during the trial that race
had nothing to do with the case.
____
Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
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