A Texas jury convicted 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony on Tuesday for the murder of fellow student Austin Metcalf during a high school athletics event in April 2025.
The Collin County panel deliberated for less than three hours before reaching the guilty verdict. Anthony received a 35-year prison sentence.
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The incident occurred when both students were 17 years old.
Texas law allowed prosecutors to charge Anthony as an adult despite his age at the time of the offense on April 2, 2025.
Trial Highlights and Evidence
The trial drew national attention and intensified debates over school safety and self-defense claims.
Prosecutors presented testimony from nearly two dozen witnesses, relying heavily on eyewitness accounts identifying Anthony as the primary aggressor.
Medical evidence detailed the severity of the confrontation. Collin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura described a large chest wound that pierced Metcalf's heart.
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The defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense.
Defense attorneys called multiple student witnesses and track coach Adam Linwood, who noted Anthony had been nominated for team captain.
Anthony maintained near-perfect grades and a 4.0 GPA, according to a Dallas-area NBC News affiliate.
The civil rights organization Next Generation Action Network, which advocated for Anthony, noted that the selected jury contained no Black members.
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Judge Roach allowed the panel to consider lesser charges of manslaughter, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, before the jury returned the murder conviction.
