Karmelo Anthony, a 19-year-old Black man from Frisco, Texas, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder in the April 2025 fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, a fellow 17-year-old, during a high school track meet in the Frisco Independent School District. The incident began when Anthony, attending the meet as a student at Frisco Centennial High School, was repeatedly asked to leave a tent belonging to Metcalf's school, Frisco Memorial High School, during a rainy competition. Witnesses testified that Metcalf shoved Anthony before Anthony stabbed him with a pocket knife, perforating his right ventricle; Metcalf was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.

The jury deliberated approximately three hours before returning a guilty murder verdict on Tuesday, rejecting a lesser manslaughter charge that carried a maximum 20-year sentence. The defense argued Anthony acted in self-defense after being physically confronted by a larger opponent, while prosecutors described the killing as senseless and deliberate. Anthony filed a notice of appeal Wednesday in Collin County court, stating he cannot afford an attorney and requesting the court appoint one; he has since been transferred to the Wallace Pack Unit near Navasota, Texas, to begin serving his sentence.

The case rapidly became a focal point for national debate over race and the justice system. Anthony's father, Andrew Anthony, publicly questioned whether the outcome would have been the same had his son been tried before a jury that included Black members, noting that while the jury included some minorities, no Black jurors were seated. Both the Anthony and Metcalf families reported receiving death threats following the verdict, with Jeff Metcalf, the victim's father, describing multiple threatening messages sent to him within a single day.

Criticism of the sentencing extended beyond the families to public figures and elected officials. Rapper Cardi B and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, both argued that race played a role in the verdict, with Crockett stating she believed a white defendant claiming fear of a Black victim would have been treated differently by the all-white jury. Despite the prosecution asserting in opening statements that the case had nothing to do with race, and Metcalf's father disavowing those who injected racial politics into the proceedings, the case has continued to generate intense debate about self-defense standards, jury composition, and the treatment of Black defendants in the Texas legal system.