Texas teen gets 35 years for fatal stabbing at school track meet

A Collin County jury sent Karmelo Anthony to prison for 35 years after finding him guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a Frisco school track meet. Jurors needed about three hours to reach their verdict and punishment on June 9, closing a case that has shaken Frisco and drawn scrutiny far beyond the district.

The stabbing happened on April 2, 2025, at David Kuykendall Stadium during a district track competition, where bad weather had pushed teams under tents near the bleachers. Austin Metcalf, 17, was an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School and played football and track. Anthony, then 17 and a student at Frisco Centennial High School, was arrested that same day and later indicted for first-degree murder by a Collin County grand jury on June 25, 2025.

At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that included a 911 call and enhanced surveillance video from the stadium. Witnesses described attempts to save Austin, including CPR efforts by an Army veteran and coach who testified that he knew Austin was gone. Anthony’s defense argued that he acted in self-defense, but jurors rejected that theory along with a claim that he acted in sudden passion during punishment deliberations.

Because the case was tried as murder rather than capital murder, the punishment range was 5 to 99 years in prison, or life. Anthony did not face the death penalty or life without parole. The sentence reflected a case that Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said struck a deep nerve in the county and beyond, raising fresh questions about security at school sporting events that are usually treated as routine and safe.

After sentencing, Austin Metcalf’s family delivered emotional victim impact statements. Meghan Metcalf spoke about the daily grief of living without her son, saying her conversations with him were now one-sided and took place at his grave. Jeff Metcalf said the family had created a scholarship in Austin’s memory and urged the public not to turn the case into a racial issue, saying it was never about race. The family also said repeated swatting incidents added to their distress, extending the harm long after the stabbing itself.