Carmelo Anthony guilty of fatal stabbing at Texas track and field tournament
A Texas jury has convicted Carmelo Anthony of murder in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf during a 2025 high school track meet.
A Texas teenager has been found guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of a student at a rival high school during a 2025 track meet, garnering national attention, multiple news outlets including NBC 5 DFW, Fox 4 and the Associated Press reported.
A Collin County jury on Tuesday, June 9, found 19-year-old Carmelo Anthony guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in Frisco, Texas, media outlets reported. Anthony, who was attending Centennial High School at the time, claims he stabbed Austin, a student at Memorial High School, in self-defense.
Jurors returned their verdict after about three hours of deliberation and began considering Anthony’s sentencing shortly after, NBC 5 DFW and Fox 4 reported.
NBC DFW reported that Anthony’s mother, Kara Hayes, tearfully told jurors that she believed Anthony regretted what he had done. “Please have mercy on my son,” Hayes said.
“He will always be my baby,” she said, the outlet reported. “I love him very much.”
Meanwhile, when Anthony returned to the courtroom after the verdict, he was shaking and his defense attorney was holding him, NBC DFW reported.
NBC DFW reported that Prosecutor Bill Wilsky told jurors that Anthony began a confrontation with Austin inside a tent at a track meet in April 2025, immediately admitted to the stabbing, and told bystanders that Austin had touched Anthony first “as if that justified the murder he had just committed.”
“You can’t put a shove on a shove, especially if you provoked a shove,” Wilsky later said in closing arguments, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Anthony’s attorney Mike Howard painted Austin and his twin brother as aggressors, according to NBC DFW. Howard said Anthony warned him not to touch Austin and said he had the right to protect himself once Austin initiated physical contact.
“There is no evidence that Carmelo did anything other than truly believe he was protecting himself in that moment of confusion,” Howard said on June 9.
The incident has been marked by controversy, racial tensions, and public demonstrations. As the murder trial began, supporters of both families gathered outside the courthouse, along with activists and internet celebrities, underscoring the level of public interest in the trial.
The murder charge carries a sentence of five years to life in prison, but a jury could find that Anthony killed Austin in an act of “sudden passion.” NBC DFW reported that Anthony could be sentenced to two to 20 years in prison if he accepts the defense’s argument that he was in a “high emotional state caused by immediate provocation from the victim.”
Emotional testimony details shocking stabbing incident
The trial began June 1 with jury selection and included emotional testimony from witnesses and graphic video footage of the chaotic incident, CBS News reported. WFAA reported that Roach banned cameras, live streaming, and recording from inside the courtroom and imposed a gag order on attorneys, witnesses, investigators, and others involved in the case.
According to CBS, several unnamed student-athletes testified that Anthony entered Austin’s tent to greet a friend, but immediately defended himself when asked to leave. Teenage witnesses, including one who testified for the defense, agreed that Anthony provoked Austin and pushed him and said they were surprised Anthony brought a weapon to the track meet.
Memorial High School track coach Rob Starr told jurors he heard the disturbance started around 10 a.m. on April 2, 2025, and found Austin with a “hole in his chest.”
School resource officer Eduardo Cortez testified that when he reported that he was being handcuffed by the “alleged suspect,” Anthony responded, “I’m not the suspect, I did it.” According to CBS, Cortez said Anthony also asked if Austin was OK.
Tensions rise before the trial
In announcing Anthony’s indictment by a grand jury, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said the case “took a deep nerve” in communities across North Texas and beyond. “When something like this happens at a school event, it upsets people to their core,” Willis said.
Anthony was allowed to receive his high school diploma, but was prohibited from attending graduation ceremonies. Austin’s twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, accepted the posthumous diploma on Austin’s behalf at May’s graduation ceremony.
Supporters of both families gathered at the courthouse and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars through an online fundraiser.
But Hayes said in an April 2025 press conference that her family also endured harassment, death threats, rumors and leaks of her home and work addresses after the stabbing.
“Regardless of what appears to have happened between Carmelo and the Metcalfe boys, my three younger children, my husband and I have done nothing to warrant being threatened, harassed and lied to,” she said.
Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalfe, tried to attend the news conference but was escorted out of the building by Dallas police, Fox 4 reported. Metcalf’s vacant home was “struck down” hours later after Frisco police responded to a report of gunshots during the speech, local media reported.
Metcalfe said at her son’s memorial service that she forgave Anthony, KDFW-TV reported. After the charges were filed, he told local media that he was “glad that things are moving forward” and that “justice will be served” for his son.
Meanwhile, the Next Generation Action Network expressed concern about the “double standards” in the case against Anthony and expressed anger at the jury selection process.
“Prosecutors launched a final attack to remove the remaining eligible Black jurors from the jury list, raising serious concerns about fairness and equal justice,” the group said on social media.
Contributors: Anthony Thompson, Melina Cahn, Saleen Martin, Jonathan Limehouse, Anthony Robredo, USA TODAY
