{"id":212746,"date":"2026-06-05T08:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/karmelo-anthonys-murder-trial-opens-with-clashing-portraits-of-a-fatal-stabbing-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T08:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:20:48","slug":"karmelo-anthonys-murder-trial-opens-with-clashing-portraits-of-a-fatal-stabbing-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/karmelo-anthonys-murder-trial-opens-with-clashing-portraits-of-a-fatal-stabbing-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Karmelo Anthony\u2019s murder trial opens with clashing portraits of a fatal stabbing – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

news Alerts
There are no new alerts at this time
As the murder trial of a Texas teenager accused of stabbing a fellow high schooler at a track meet got underway Thursday, prosecutors and the defense offered sharply divergent accounts of the events leading up to the death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
Karmelo Anthony, 19, was arrested last year and charged in connection with stabbing Metcalf during an altercation at a track meet at a high school in Frisco, a sprawling suburb of Dallas. He has pleaded not guilty.
Anthony\u2019s attorney, Mike Howard, argued that his client acted in self-defense, reacting to \u201cfear and chaos.\u201d
\u201cAfter Karmelo defended himself with that knife, he ran. He didn\u2019t stab again. He dropped the knife. He didn\u2019t stab anyone else,\u201d Howard said.
The case has drawn national attention amid an explosive online debate along racial lines. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white.
\u201cThis case has nothing to do with race,\u201d Texas prosecutor Bill Wirskye said. \u201cThis case is not self-defense. Unjustified provoked murder \u2014 that\u2019s why we\u2019re here this morning.\u201d
Next Generation Action Network, a civil rights organization, said Wednesday on X<\/a> that it was \u201coutraged\u201d that none of the jurors selected \u2014 11 women and seven men \u2014 <\/strong>are Black.
\u201cThe prosecution used its final strikes to remove the remaining qualified Black jurors from the jury pool, raising serious concerns about fairness and equal justice,\u201d the group said. \u201cWe respect the court, but we will not remain silent.\u201d
Several of the jurors are people of color, but none are Black.
The trial\u2019s first witness was a video expert analyzing security video in which Anthony and Metcalf scuffled before Anthony fled toward the stadium exit. The second witness was Frisco Memorial High School track and assistant football coach Robert Starr.
Jeff Metcalf said his son was killed when another student armed with a knife got upset when he was told he was in the wrong spot. Austin Metcalf was stabbed in the chest and died in his twin brother\u2019s arms, his dad said. <\/strong>His twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, was not in the courthouse Thursday.
\u201cThey were twins, identical twins, and his brother was holding on to him, trying to make it stop bleeding, and he died in his brother\u2019s arms,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cI rushed up there and I saw him on the gurney, and I could tell \u2014 they said he wasn\u2019t breathing. I could see all the blood, and I saw where the wound was, and I was very concerned, so I had to find his brother, and we rushed to the hospital. And we prayed, and it\u2019s God\u2019s plan. I don\u2019t understand it, but they weren\u2019t able to save him. This is murder.\u201d
Austin Metcalf\u2019s last words were revealed during the trial Thursday.
\u201cI\u2019ve been stabbed,\u201d he said, according to Wirskye.
He had a 4.0 GPA, he was MVP of the football team, and he was headed for college, his father said.
\u201cHe was on the right track,\u201d Jeff Metcalf said. \u201cHe was loved by many. He was a leader.\u201d
In June 2025, Anthony was charged with first-degree murder.
\u201cWe know this case has struck a deep nerve \u2014 here in Collin County and beyond,\u201d Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said at the time. \u201cThat\u2019s understandable. When something like this happens at a school event, it shakes people to the core.\u201d
On Thursday, prosecutors said Anthony \u201clied when he got caught.\u201d
\u201cHe tossed the knife immediately after. Why toss the knife? Someone who\u2019s scared doesn\u2019t do that,\u201d Wirskye said.
In Texas, 17-year-olds are considered adults. If Anthony is found guilty, he could face five years to life in state prison.
Anthony posted a $250,000 bond for his release and has since been under house arrest. He was permitted to graduate from high school and finished with a 3.7 GPA, Next Generation Action Network told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
\u201cWe are proud to share that Karmelo Anthony will graduate and receive his high school diploma, and that his academic achievements will not be disrupted,\u201d it said at the time.
Anthony was not allowed to participate in any senior graduation activities, NGAN told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Representatives of Anthony have created a crowdfunding page<\/a> \u2014 which has now raised over $600,000 \u2014 to help him pay for legal fees and moving costs.
Matt Lavietes is a reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeAs the murder trial of a Texas teenager accused of stabbing a fellow high schooler at a track meet got underway Thursday, prosecutors and the defense offered sharply divergent accounts of the events leading up to the death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf.Subscribe to read this story ad-free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":212747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-212746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}