Karmelo Anthony was moved to a Texas state prison Wednesday, one day after a jury convicted him of murder and sentenced him to 35 years behind bars for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco high school track meet.
Following his conviction Tuesday, Mr. Anthony was taken to the Collin County Jail, where he was held in isolation in the facility’s infirmary, according to Fox News Digital. He had been free on bail throughout the trial but was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was read.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice transferred him Wednesday to the Wallace Pack Unit, a prison near Navasota just outside Houston, where he will begin serving his sentence. A new booking photo released by the agency shows Anthony, 19, with a shaved head and wearing a sleeveless prison tunic.
Anthony has also filed a notice of appeal with the court in Collin County. In the one-page filing, he said he could not afford an attorney and asked the court to appoint one. The appeal process can take months or years, and Anthony will remain incarcerated in the meantime.
The stabbing occurred April 2, 2025, during a Frisco Independent School District track and field competition involving multiple schools. Witnesses testified that an argument broke out after Anthony, then a student at Frisco Centennial High School, refused to leave the tent belonging to Metcalf’s school, Frisco Memorial High School. One witness — a 17-year-old Memorial High School student — testified that Anthony was asked to leave the tent about 15 times before the confrontation escalated. Metcalf shoved Anthony before Anthony stabbed him with a pocket knife, piercing his right ventricle. Metcalf was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The jury deliberated for approximately three hours before returning the guilty verdict Tuesday. During the guilt phase, Judge John Roach instructed jurors they could also consider a lesser manslaughter charge, which they rejected. In the sentencing phase, the defense asked jurors to find that Anthony acted under “sudden passion” — a Texas legal standard that, if proven, would have reduced his punishment range to two to 20 years — but jurors rejected that claim as well, imposing the 35-year term. Anthony will be eligible for parole after serving half that sentence.
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye and Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis spoke to Fox News on Wednesday and said they were relieved by the outcome.
“This was murder, plain and simple,” Mr. Wirskye said.
Mr. Willis said he was “relieved for the family mostly.”
Mr. Wirskye pushed back on claims that race played any role in the case, noting that roughly 17 eyewitnesses testified — a group he described as diverse. “The jury quickly realized this case was never about race,” he said. “This case was about murder, plain and simple.”
He said a key turning point for the jury was surveillance footage shown during trial. “I think when the jury finally saw the videotape,” he told Fox News, “that really reinforced to them that Karmelo Anthony wasn’t surrounded. The kids under the tent were seated looking at their phones.”
Mr. Wirskye also said he had hoped Anthony would testify in his own defense.
“I was hoping jurors in our community would get to hear whatever story he chose to tell,” he said. “But ultimately, it’s his decision under our Constitution, and we have to respect that.”
Anthony’s parents told TMZ they do not believe their son received a fair trial. His mother, Kala Hayes, said tearfully, “Absolutely not,” when asked whether he received a fair hearing.
Mr. Wirskye said he hopes Anthony will eventually come to terms with what happened.
“I hope one day the light goes on and he’ll realize he did the wrong thing, and he can live a productive and law-abiding life, either behind bars or not,” he said.
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