A Collin County jury has found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder in the death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf.
The verdict came down Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas, more than a year after Metcalf was stabbed during a Frisco ISD track meet.
Jurors deliberated for about three hours before returning the guilty verdict.
BREAKING: A jury has found Karmelo Anthony guilty in the murder of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf.
Anthony admitted to stabbing Metcalf but claimed he acted in self-defense.
Witnesses testified that Metcalf and other student-athletes repeatedly asked Anthony to leave a Memorial… pic.twitter.com/cc6n9MybZU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 9, 2026
Anthony was 19 at trial. He was charged in the April 2, 2025 stabbing of Metcalf at a stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco.
Metcalf’s family was in the courtroom when the verdict was read, including his mother, father, and twin brother.
Anthony’s parents were also present.
The case then moved almost immediately from guilt to punishment.
FOX Local summarized the immediate turn after the verdict:
Anthony faces between five and 99 years or life in prison.
The punishment phase of the trial began within minutes of the verdict being read.
Jurors were also asked to decide whether sudden passion played a role, a finding that could dramatically change the sentencing range.
FOX 4 reported that if jurors find sudden passion, Anthony’s sentence cannot exceed 20 years. If they do not, the case remains in the life-sentence range.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said Anthony provoked the confrontation, carried a hidden knife into the track meet, and turned a shove into a deadly attack.
Defense attorney Mike Howard argued the stabbing came in a split second of fear and chaos after Metcalf, who was larger, confronted and pushed Anthony inside a crowded team tent.
The defense also rested Monday without Anthony taking the stand.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning after testimony ends without the defendant taking the stand. https://t.co/18OUN8y4e7
— CBS News Texas (@CBSNewsTexas) June 9, 2026
That left jurors weighing murder, manslaughter, and self-defense from the testimony and evidence in front of them.
They chose murder.
As the punishment phase moved forward, prosecutors also pushed back on the idea that Anthony acted out of sudden passion.
FOX 4 captured the state’s punishment-phase argument:
“The person doing the provoking was Karmelo Anthony.”
ADVERTISEMENTWirskye showed jurors more photos of Metcalf.
“Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”
Closing arguments begin Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Karmelo Anthony, the teen accused in the fatal 2025 high school track meet stabbing of Austin Metcalf. https://t.co/0vvsq2wziF
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) June 9, 2026
The witness testimony also cut against Anthony’s self-defense claim.
Fox News reported that student witnesses described Anthony as the aggressor and said Metcalf was unwilling to fight.
Fox News quoted what Anthony allegedly told police after the stabbing:
“I’m not alleged. I did it,” Anthony allegedly told a responding school resource officer.
“He put his hands on me. I told him not to.”
The jury that rejected Anthony’s self-defense claim now has to decide how long he spends behind bars.
For Austin Metcalf’s family, no sentence can bring back a 17-year-old who went to a school athletic event and never came home.
But the verdict is now official.
The fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf was murder.
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