Defense tries to buttress self-defense claim in Texas trial over teen athlete’s killing

MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Lawyers for a young man who fatally stabbed a competitor at a Texas high school track meet called more witnesses Monday to try to support a claim of self-defense as a trial entered a second week.

Karmelo Anthony, now 19, is charged with murder in the death of Austin Metcalf, 17, at a school stadium in Frisco, a Dallas suburb, in April 2025.

Prosecutors say the stabbing was an unprovoked attack related to a dispute over whether Anthony could be under the tent of Metcalf’s team during a rainy track meet. Defense attorneys insist Anthony felt threatened and believed he needed to defend himself when physical contact was made.

Metcalf’s death drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony, who attended Frisco Centennial High School, is Black, while Metcalf, who attended Frisco Memorial High School, was white.

Prosecutors rested their case Saturday in Collin County court. Jurors last week heard from a number of witnesses who were present at the track meet, including people who said Anthony was an aggressor at the tent and that he swiftly admitted to the stabbing.

One of Anthony’s teammates, testifying Monday, said Anthony was “distraught.”

“I was hearing him say, ‘I told him not to touch me,’” the witness said.

Judge John Roach Jr. has said young witnesses can’t be publicly identified.