Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial is set to start this week in McKinney, Texas, after jury selection begins Monday, June 1. The closely watched case stems from the April 2, 2025 fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet.
For the second morning. the steps outside the Collin County Courthouse didn’t feel like a normal start to a trial. Supporters of both families turned up as prospective jurors filed in. security tightened. and demonstrators gathered—marking a new. high-stakes chapter for a case that has already split the public for months.
Jury selection began Monday, June 1, and will continue through Wednesday, June 3, at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, a court spokesperson said. If a jury is seated, opening statements could begin Thursday, June 4.
Karmelo Anthony—accused of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf after an altercation at a high school track meet—has maintained that he acted in self defense. The decision of who will sit on the jury. and what they bring with them from a national conversation fueled by social media. is at the center of the courtroom drama unfolding this week.
Anthony is facing a first-degree murder charge tied to the April 2025 death of Metcalf, a student at Memorial High School, following the incident at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco on April 2, 2025. Anthony attended Centennial High School at the time of the confrontation and has since graduated.
The jury selection process is taking place under heightened attention. CBS reported prospective jurors arrived Monday, June 1 amid heightened security. Demonstrators gathered outside. including supporters of both the Anthony and Metcalf families. while the public and media were allowed to watch proceedings from an adjacent courtroom through a live video feed.
Anthony was indicted on the first-degree murder charge in June 2025 after a Collin County grand jury reviewed evidence in the case. Before that indictment, Anthony had previously been arrested on a murder charge and was later released on bond that had been reduced from $1 million to $250,000.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit previously obtained. the confrontation began after a dispute between the two teenagers during the meet. A school resource officer who responded to the scene reported that Anthony allegedly said. “I was protecting myself” after being ordered to put his hands up. Authorities said Anthony admitted stabbing Metcalf and asked whether the teen would be OK.
Metcalf died from his injuries. Both teenagers were 17 years old at the time of the incident.
Anthony’s defense centers on self defense. His attorney, Mike Howard, said after the indictment that the defense believes prosecutors will be unable to eliminate reasonable doubt about whether Anthony acted to protect himself during the encounter.
Outside the courtroom. the families have also been navigating a case that has become about more than one night at a stadium. Austin Metcalf’s father. Jeff Metcalf. welcomed the indictment last year and said he believed “justice will be served” through the court process. while acknowledging that no outcome would bring back his son. The family marked remembrance as well: Austin’s twin brother. Hunter Metcalf. accepted a posthumous diploma on Austin’s behalf during a May graduation ceremony. In a GoFundMe tribute, Jeff Metcalf described Austin as a bright young man with a promising future.
Anthony’s family urged restraint after the indictment. saying it was “a moment we hoped we would never face” and urging the public not to litigate the case on social media. Anthony’s mother. Kala Hayes. said during an April 2025 news conference that her family had faced threats and harassment after the stabbing. Both families’ supporters and outside activists have appeared in public spaces around the courthouse. underscoring how strongly people feel about the competing versions of what happened.
The case has drawn national attention far beyond North Texas. It has been fueled by competing accounts of the confrontation, Anthony’s self-defense claim, and extensive discussion on social media. With controversy. racial tensions. and public demonstrations surrounding the case. the courtroom becomes the place where those narratives are forced to collide in front of jurors.
The tension isn’t only legal—it’s personal. As the trial moves toward opening statements on Thursday. June 4. the families involved will be waiting for the same thing in different ways: a decision that can’t undo April 2. 2025. but may finally bring an answer to a question that has spilled far beyond Kuykendall Stadium.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com, or on X @athompsonUSAT.
Karmelo Anthony Austin Metcalf murder trial jury selection Collin County Courthouse McKinney Texas Frisco track meet self defense first-degree murder bond $250 000