Karmelo Anthony Draws 35-Year Murder Sentence as Texas Case Fuels Racial Debate

3 articles · Updated · Forbes · Jun 13

Judge John Roach Jr. defended the 35-year sentence and guilty verdict, saying the Collin County trial should serve as a model and dismissing criticism over his handling of the case.
Tuesday’s jury verdict convicted 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony of murdering Austin Metcalf after prosecutors said he escalated a tent dispute at a 2025 Frisco track meet by stabbing the 17-year-old once in the chest.
Anthony’s family and supporters argued self-defense and questioned an all-white jury, while critics including Cardi B, Rep. Jasmine Crockett and local civil-rights groups cast the outcome as racially biased.
Metcalf’s father said life in prison would have been more appropriate and pledged to oppose parole, underscoring how the sentence satisfied neither side of a case that drew rival courthouse rallies and arrests.
The trial has become a wider proxy fight over race, self-defense and online misinformation in fast-growing Frisco, where both families say they have received death threats.