Texas teenager Karmelo Anthony has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison after he was convicted of fatally stabbing fellow high school athlete Austin Metcalf during a track meet.
Anthony, 19, learned his fate during a hearing on Tuesday, June 9, in Collin County. Jurors came to the conclusion after they spent two-and-a-half hours deliberating.
He will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.
During the sentencing hearing, Metcalf’s mother, Meghan Metcalf, addressed Anthony in a victim impact statement.
“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,” Meghan said, according to NBC x5.
She added that her son was a “peacemaker” and a “protector,” as well as recalled the final morning they spent together before he was fatally stabbed in April 2025.
“There was a part of him you can never take from me, the strength I still get from him every day, because I know what it was like to be loved by him,” Meghan said, per the outlet. “My son was murdered. He didn’t just die. He was taken from us. Just as he was starting to live.”
Anthony was sentenced just hours after a jury found him guilty of murder in the death of Austin, who was 17 years old when he died.
Anthony, who was also 17 during the incident, previously argued that he stabbed Austin in self-defense when they had a confrontation at a track meet at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Anthony and Austin were complete strangers at the time of the altercation. Witnesses told police that the incident began when Austin asked Anthony to move from beneath a tent that was designated for Austin’s track team at the meet, according to a probable cause affidavit viewed by People.
A witness claimed that Anthony responded by reaching into his backpack and saying, “Touch me and see what happens.”
Austin then allegedly touched Anthony and tried to physically move him, which was when Anthony pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
Following the incident, Anthony spoke to a responding officer and allegedly admitted that he stabbed Austin.
“He put his hands on me,” Anthony allegedly said, per the affidavit. “I told him not to.”
Anthony also reportedly yelled that he was “protecting” himself as officers took him into custody.
Anthony’s legal team insisted throughout the trial that he acted in self-defense. However, attorney Deric Walpole previously told NBC 5 that he had “no reason to think it wasn’t self-defense.”
