Tipsheet

Verdict Revealed in Karmelo Anthony Case

Joseph Chalfant
Joseph Chalfant  |  June 09, 2026 3:32 PM

The verdict is in for the trial of Karmelo Anthony for the killing of high school track athlete Austin Metcalf and the jury has found him guilty of the crime.

Protestors supporting Anthony surrounded the Collin County court house on Tuesday, chanting "Free Karmelo" as they awaited the verdict to be handed down.

As closing arguments ended, Anthony’s defense team successfully lobbied the judge to include manslaughter on the list of charges for the jury to deliberate over. Manslaughter convictions are significantly lighter than murder charges, carrying a maximum sentence of only 20 years and a minimum of 2 years. The defense team was unsuccessful in their attempt to have the provocation standard of the murder charge read-in on the jury instructions.

Closing arguments from state prosecutors told jurors that manslaughter should not apply to the case unless the jury believed, as the defense argued, that Metcalf had impaled himself on Anthony’s knife during the altercation.

The defense’s closing arguments continued along what they attempted to portray earlier in the trial, that Metcalf had used “deadly force” in an attempt to force Anthony from the tent in which the attack occurred.

“These guys are much bigger than you, do you turn your back and walk away and take a chance that these teenage boys with their raging hormones,” defense counsel Mike Howard said of the Metcalf twins. “Austin and Hunter had the right to tell Melo to leave but they did have the right to use deadly force to make him leave.” 

Anthony’s sentencing hearing will begin later today. Due to his status as a minor at the time of the crime, Anthony is not eligible to receive the death penalty. Anthony's conviction means that he faces five to 99 years.