MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A teenager who fatally stabbed a competitor at a Texas high school track meet was upset immediately after the confrontation and said he had warned the victim “not to touch me," a witness testified Monday 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.
One of Anthony’s teammates, testifying Monday for the defense, said Anthony was “distraught” after the stabbing.
“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.
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.
The courtroom was packed again Monday with spectators, including Metcalf's parents and younger people.
