McKINNEY, Texas – Closing arguments are underway Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Karmelo Anthony, the teenager accused of fatally stabbing a fellow student during a high school track meet last year.
Defense attorneys rested their case Monday without calling Anthony to the witness stand. The 19-year-old faces a first-degree murder charge in the April 2, 2025, death of Austin Metcalf, 17, at a stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco.
10:20 a.m. Prosecutors give closing arguments
Collin County District Attorney Bill Wirskye in closing told jurors that Anthony’s words were not a warning, they were a threat. Anthony could have easily yelled for a coach if his life were in danger.
The DA said everything could be boiled down to one sentence.
Wirskye reminded jurors that intentional murder and an act that is clearly dangerous both equal murder. A manslaughter verdict would require 12 jurors to acquit Anthony of murder.
- Provoke: You do not get to provoke an encounter then when someone touches you, use deadly force. If you find he provoked it, self-defense is off the table.
- Force Disparity: You can meet shove with shove, deadly force with deadly force, you can’t meet shove with a stab. It has to be promotional. The defense argued that Metcalf and his twin brother were big but Anthony is small. That argument does not work in this case. You don’t get to kill someone because they are bigger than you. That is the law.
- Reasonable Belief: This is a belief held by an ordinary and prudent person. What would an ordinary and prudent person do? The DA said anyone reasonable person would not have plunged a knife into Metcalf or met a shove with a stab.
- Immediately Necessary: Deadly force has to be immediately necessary. Where was the immediate necessity to plunge a knife into an unarmed man? He had a secret knife. He could provoke away all day. With the knife he would come out on top. It was not self-defense. It was murder.
The prosecutor also pointed to Anthony’s actions after the stabbing. He ran away and then slowed down to blend in. Wirskye said that shows a guilty mindset.
“He had it in his mind what he was going to do,” Wirskye said.Â
“He used lethal force against nonlethal force,” Wirskye said.
Defense attorney Mike Howard
Defense Attorney Mike Howard told jurors that Metcalf did not have the right to use force to eject Anthony from the Memorial High School team tent. He was in a public place.
He encouraged jurors to consider the facts from Anthony’s shoes.Â
He reminded the jurors that it’s common for people to walk around during track meets to see their friends. He said it was reasonable for Anthony to be confused because he was talking to a friend. He said it was reasonable for him to wonder why Metcalf was mad or think he was joking.
“Do you turn your back and walk away, or will these boys grab you from behind where you can’t defend yourself?” Howard asked. “Melo was seated the whole time. They didn’t have the legal right to use force to eject him.”
“How do you know when it’s too late to defend yourself?” he asked. “You are justified to use deadly force when you believe it is immediately necessary.”
The defense attorney said after the stabbing, Anthony was crying, emotional, hysterical, and distraught. He did not expect Metcalf to die.
“In that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes,” Howard told jurors.
“Why would he provoke a fight with a kid so much bigger, with a twin so much bigger, with other teammates?” the attorney asked. “It’s not about race as much as people outside want to make it.”
The attorney also pointed out the medical examiner’s testimony that the stab wound was lateral and not vertical, meaning it was awkward and defensive, not intentional. Â
Howard said the law required jurors to put themselves in Anthony’s shoes. He had a friend under the tent. He mouthed off when someone told him to leave, but he’s a 17-year-old dumb kid. Now they’re all angry and he fears he’ll be beaten. He put his hand in the bag as a warning and told them not to touch him.
He encouraged jurors to hold the state to the burden of ruling out reasonable doubt.
For murder, one acts knowingly or intentionally. Did Anthony act knowingly or intentionally to kill Metcalf? For manslaughter, one acts recklessly with conscious disregard for life. Did Anthony act recklessly to cause Metcalf’s death?
The jury cannot consider the defendant’s decision to not testify.
The doors to the courtroom opened and everyone made their way through security.Â
7 a.m. Signs outside the courthouse
A group set up signs in the parking lot of the Collin County courthouse in support of Anthony. As of 7 a.m. there were no signs supporting the Metcalf family.
The defense rested its case Monday afternoon in the murder trial of Karmelo Anthony, setting the stage for closing arguments Tuesday morning.
Before resting, the defense called its final witnesses Monday morning to focus heavily on a self-defense argument. A 17-year-old high school student testified he saw victim Austin Metcalf make physical contact with Anthony before the stabbing, and recalled seeing Anthony crying and distraught immediately afterward. The witness testified he heard Anthony say, “I told him not to touch me.” A second student witness, a 17-year-old football player, also testified to seeing a push or a punch before hearing onlookers scream that someone had been stabbed.
The defense also called Frisco police officer Beau Riey, who testified that carrying a knife with a blade under 5 inches is legal under Texas law. While possessing the pocketknife violated school district policy, Riey confirmed it was not an illegal weapon. Prosecutors declined to cross-examine him.
Outside the Collin County courthouse, the activist group Next Generation Action Network held a lunchtime news conference. Founder Dominique Alexander urged supporters to maintain “revolutionary peace,” noting that too much attention had shifted to activities outside the courtroom.
Day 3 Recap: Prosecutors rest their case
Jurors earlier heard harrowing testimony from Collin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura, who detailed the “gaping,” fatal 2-inch stab wound to Austin Metcalf's heart. Student witnesses from Memorial High School also took the stand, describing Anthony as the aggressor who provoked a confrontation and refused to leave their team’s tent before the stabbing.
Day 2 Recap: Teenage witnesses testify after jurors watch arrest, bodycam video
