Hunter Metcalf, the twin brother of slain Memorial High School student Austin Metcalf, confronted convicted killer Karmelo Anthony inside a packed Texas courthouse Tuesday.
“If you could just look me in the eye while I speak, I would really respect that,” Hunter said as Anthony, 19, kept his eyes averted on the floor inside a Collin County courtroom, CBS News reports.
“What I’ve been doing in the last year is trying to learn how to forgive. I have been choosing God and trying to understand why he had to go. You took a son, a brother, a friend, my best friend from this world.
“You took someone away from me who was supposed to be an uncle to my kids … Now I want everything taken from you.”
As Criminal Enterprise reported, a Collin County jury found Anthony guilty Tuesday of murder and returned with a 35-year prison sentence. The decision came swiftly, with the twelve-person jury deliberating for around two and a half hours.
Anthony, a Centennial High School student at the time, attacked 17-year-old Metcalf, a Memorial High School student, over a seating dispute in April 2025, at Frisco’s David Kuykendall Stadium.
The incident happened after Anthony, who reportedly skipped school that day to attend the meet, sat under a tent designated for Memorial students and refused to leave when confronted by members of the Memorial track team.
While the prosecution argued that the attack had been an unjustified “sneak attack,” the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense, fearing for his safety after being swarmed by a group of Memorial students.
“I’m not alleged. I did it,” Anthony told law enforcement following the stabbing, adding that Metcalf put his hands on him.
The stabbing, according to Collin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura, left a gaping wound, measuring two-and-a-half inches, on the left side of Metcalf’s chest. It penetrated through his pericardium, reaching the right ventricle of his heart.
The trial proceedings ended in a heavily secured, emotional courtroom environment where there was a visible divide between the two grieving families.
Anthony’s mother, Kala Harris, apologized on behalf of her son, explaining that her oldest son will “always be my baby.
“I love him very much.”
Outside the McKinney courthouse, a polarized crowd could be heard shouting angrily at each other. Anthony’s grandmother yelled, “racist, bias!” as she left the courthouse in a sedan, the New York Post reports.
“We love Karmelo! We love him!” another supporter yelled.
*WARNING: Graphic Language*
Inside the courtroom, other family members, including Metcalf’s mother, stated that her son, “a hugger and a morning kid,” was a peacemaker “who always had a way of bringing people together.”
Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, who demanded that Anthony look him in the eye, said that a part of him had been destroyed when his son died.
“We were robbed! Don’t look down!” “You’re going to prison. I forgave you the day it happened. I don’t forgive what you did…You can’t look me in the eyes but you can stab my f****** son!”
Despite this, outrage continued outside the courthouse, with supporters on both sides yelling racially-charged profanities at each other as law enforcement formed barricades to keep the opposing parties apart.
For Metcalf’s father, however, the tragedy was never a matter of race—it was about a devastating minutes-long altercation that cut a young life short and left a community in shock.
Meghan added that no amount of time given to Anthony would bring her son back.
“You may have just been given a sentence of 35 years, you should feel lucky because I’ve been sentenced to a life without my son.”
Under Texas state law, Anthony will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least half of his 35-year prison sentence.
He’s currently behind bars at the Collin County jail, awaiting transfer to state prison.
[Featured images: Metcalf/Memorial High School; Anthony/Frisco PD]
