Brawl Breaks Out After Karmelo Anthony Found Guilty of Murder By a Jury with No Black Citizens
At least one person has been arrested after Karmelo Anthony was found guilty of murder.
A Collin County, Texas, jury found Karmelo Anthony, 18, guilty of the murder of Austin Metcalf.
Jurors began deliberations Tuesday morning and reached a verdict within hours.
Anthony has now been convicted of stabbing Austin Metcalf in April 2025 during a high school track meet. Both were 17 at the time.
Anthony is facing life in prison for the charge of first-degree murder.
Since he was a minor at the time of the murder, Anthony is not eligible for the death penalty.
Before deliberation, Judge John Roach Jr. said the jury may also find Anthony guilty of manslaughter instead of the murder charge.
Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.
“According to Texas law, murder is when the defendant ‘intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual,’ while manslaughter is when the defendant ‘recklessly causes the death of an individual,” attorney David Weinstein told NewsNation.
A group of supporters for Anthony and Metcalf was gathered outside the courtroom. Fox News reported that at least one person was arrested in a fight.
Another woman walked past the camera, clutching a friend as she sobbed.
The case has generated national attention, fueled by conflicting accounts of when Anthony stabbed Metcalf.
A former teammate of Metcalf’s testified that no one was ganging up on Anthony. He insisted Anthony was provoking the situation.
“I remember Karmelo refusing to leave and Austin saying ‘You need to leave,’ and Karmelo saying ‘Touch me and find out,’” the witness testified.
During closing arguments Tuesday, the prosecution rebutted Anthony’s self-defense claim.
“This is one of those rare cases where every important fact can be boiled down to one sentence: You do not get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the shove,” prosecutor Bill Wirskye said.
“Why didn’t [Anthony] just not walk away?” he asked the jury, according to CBS News. “You see he had a choice to walk away and abandon the encounter.”
Defense attorney Mike Howard leaned into the self-defense argument, according to CBS News.
“Austin Metcalf had no legal right to use force to eject Karmelo Anthony from that tent,” he said. “He had no legal right to put his hands on Karmelo. Karmelo is in a public place.”
Howard asked the jury to consider Anthony’s position that day.
“How do you know in a split second of chaos when it’s too late?” Howard asked. “Because if you wait too late to defend yourself, self-defense is meaningless.”
Brawl Breaks Out After Karmelo Anthony Found Guilty of Murder By a Jury with No Black Citizens