Karmelo Anthony found guilty of murder in Texas track meet stabbing
Anthony admitted stabbing Memorial High School student Austin Metcalf but claimed self-defense
A Collin County jury has sentenced Karmelo Anthony to 35 years in prison after he was found guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Memorial High School student Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas.
Anthony faced up to life in prison after being convicted of murder. He will be eligible for parole after serving half that time.
He broke down in tears and was shaking as the verdict was read Tuesday afternoon, and he was immediately taken into custody. The case immediately moved into the sentencing phase, with Anthony’s mother as the sole witness called to the stand to implore the judge to impose a lenient punishment.
“Please have mercy on my son,” Kayla Hays said as mascara stains could be seen streaking her tear-soaked cheeks.
“He’s my oldest, my first born, my baby, I love him very much,” she said.
When asked by Anthony’s defense team if her son regretted his actions, Hays replied, “Yes, he’s very sorry for what he did.”
A split of Karmelo Anthony (left) and Austin Metcalf. Anthony was accused of stabbing Metcalf to death during an April 2, 2025 track meet in Frisco, Texas. (FOX4; Jeff Metcalf)
KARMELO ANTHONY JURY BEGINS DELIBERATING, TO CONSIDER MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE IN TRACK MEET MURDER TRIAL
Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, was in the courtroom room for the first time. Metcalf’s mother was crying and hugging supporters.
Following Anthony’s sentencing, the court heard from Metcalf’s loved ones who had prepared victim impact statements.
“Since the day he first grabbed my finger, he had my heart with it,” Metcalf’s father, Jeff, said, according to FOX 4.
“You failed your parents, yourself and society. You don’t belong in this community,” he added, the outlet reported. “You can’t look me in the eyes, but you can stab my f—– son?”
Hunter Metcalf also reportedly took the stand to confront his twin brother’s killer directly, asking Anthony to look him in the eye and that he “would really respect that.”
“Now I want everything taken from you,” Hunter Metcalf said. “You took everything from me. I wake up every morning and his door is still shut.”
Metcalf’s mother, Megan, described how she packed her son a snack before the track meet and sent him off, not realizing it would be the last time she ever saw him, according to FOX 4.
“Now I only have videos and memories of his laugh,” Megan Metcalf said, the outlet reported. “You may have been given a sentence of 35 years. You should feel lucky. I’ve been sentenced to a lifetime without my son.”
Jurors were then tasked with determining Anthony’s sentence, in which they decided Metcalf’s stabbing was not in “sudden passion,” which would have capped his potential prison time at 20 years behind bars. He ultimately faced the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
A court sketch depicts the scene from Karmelo Anthony’s trial as he was convicted of murder in the 2025 stabbing death of Austin Metcalf in Collin County, Texas on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (Pat Lopez)
A court sketch depicts the scene from Karmelo Anthony’s trial as his mother, Kayla Hays, is called as the sole witness during the sentencing phase after Anthony was convicted of murder in the 2025 stabbing death of Austin Metcalf in Collin County, Texas on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (Pat Lopez)
The verdict followed days of emotional testimony from student athletes, police officers, forensic experts and coaches who described the confrontation that ended with Metcalf’s death at Kuykendall Stadium on April 2, 2025.
The verdict was reached just three hours after jurors were sent to deliberate following closing arguments Tuesday.
The jury in Karmelo Anthony’s trial had to decide if he acted in “sudden passion” when he stabbed Austin Metcalf to death at a Texas high school track — a finding that would have capped his sentence at 20 years instead of life in prison. (KDFW)
Anthony, who was 17 at the time, admitted he stabbed Metcalf but claimed he acted in self-defense.
As the verdict was being read, more than one hundred protesters – split between supporters of Metcalf and Anthony – descended on the courthouse, and at least one protester was taken into custody after a fight broke out in response to the guilty verdict.
People outside of Collin County Courthouse react as news of a verdict is announced in the Karmelo Anthony murder trial in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AJ Skuy for Fox News Digital)
What happened at the track meet
At the center of the case was a confrontation that unfolded beneath a Memorial High School team tent during a rainy track meet attended by schools from across North Texas.
A courtroom sketch depicts Karmelo Anthony and his defense team as jurors view surveillance video during Anthony’s murder trial in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, track meet. (Pat Lopez)
According to trial testimony, Anthony, a student from a different school, sat beneath the Memorial tent shortly before the confrontation began. Several student athletes testified that they questioned why he was there and repeatedly asked him to leave.
A shouting match is caught on video outside the Karmelo Anthony trial in Texas on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (Fox News)
People outside of Collin County Courthouse react after Karmelo Anthony is found guilty of the murder of Austin Metcalf, McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AJ Skuy for Fox News Digital)
Witnesses told jurors that Austin Metcalf eventually approached Anthony and asked him to move. One student testified that Anthony was asked to leave roughly 15 times. Multiple witnesses recalled Anthony responding with statements such as, “Touch me and you’ll find out” and “If you want me to move, you have to move me.”
