Karmelo Anthony Convicted of Murder, Sentenced to 35 Years for Stabbing Austin Metcalf at Texas Track Meet

What Happened

On April 2, 2025, a seating dispute in the bleachers at a Frisco, Texas high school track meet turned fatal. Karmelo Anthony, then a student at Centennial High School, stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in the chest with a pocketknife. Metcalf died at the scene, according to Fox4News.

Metcalf's coach, identified as Rebmann in trial testimony reported by Fox4News, used his jacket to apply pressure to the wound while repeatedly telling Metcalf, "Stay with me, Austin." It didn't work.

The Trial

The murder trial opened with statements in Collin County court and was expected to last approximately two weeks, according to Fox4News. The jury heard the 911 call, saw the blood-soaked jacket, and watched surveillance and body camera footage.

On June 10, 2026, the jury convicted Anthony of murder. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, according to ClickOrlando. Texas law allowed for a sentence of five to 99 years or life.

The Self-Defense Argument

Anthony's defense team argued that Metcalf physically confronted Anthony first, and that Anthony acted to protect himself. The defense pointed out that Centennial High School did not have a tent at the meet, suggesting Anthony may have legitimately sought shelter under another school's tent—the point of the initial dispute.

Defense attorney Mike Howard pressed coach Rebmann under cross-examination, asking where an athlete from a school without a tent might logically seek cover. Rebmann admitted, "I guess so," when the defense suggested it "makes sense." According to Fox4News, the defense also focused on conversations between athletes from different schools and whether those were normal at such events.

The jury didn't buy it. They rejected the self-defense claim entirely, according to ClickOrlando.

The Footage

After the trial concluded, Collin County court released a batch of evidence that included surveillance video and officer body camera footage. ClickOrlando obtained and reported on that footage.

The surveillance camera captured a rainy day at the track. A figure in a gray sweatshirt—Anthony—pops up from behind a yellow tent and runs down the bleacher steps. He trips, falls, gets up, and keeps running along the fence separating the bleachers from the track. He stops briefly, looks back at what appeared to be someone chasing him, then continues.

He eventually connects with two other people, exchanges words, and is then met by a police officer who handcuffs him without resistance.

The body camera audio catches Anthony's voice, broken and crying: "He put his hands on me. I told him not to. He put his hands on me."

That moment will remain part of the public record regardless of what any viewer makes of it. A conviction doesn't retroactively prove who initiated physical contact. It proves the jury found the self-defense claim insufficient under the evidence presented.

Legal Commentary at Trial

Todd Shapiro, an attorney not involved in the case, told Fox4News after the first day of testimony that the prosecution had made a strong impression, particularly with the bloody jacket displayed to the jury at the end of the day. "I think it being at the end of the day really left a very strong impression on the jury's mind as they go home tonight," Shapiro said. His read on the prosecution's momentum proved accurate.

What Remains Open

Anthony is now 19 and will serve at least a portion of a 35-year sentence. What actually happened in those bleachers before Anthony pulled the knife remains unclear from the public record. The jury concluded self-defense didn't apply. Whether Metcalf physically struck Anthony first—as Anthony told officers—was a disputed fact at trial, and the released footage does not capture the stabbing itself, only the aftermath.