Trial date set for Austin Metcalf’s suspected killer in track meet stabbing

The 18-year-old suspect accused of killing Frisco, Texas, high school track star Austin Metcalf will stand trial in June 2026, court records reveal. 

Karmelo Anthony will face a jury beginning June 1, 2026. He is accused of stabbing Metcalf to death at a track meet April 2. 

“What we can share is that Mr. Karmelo Anthony, his family, his legal team, and his broader support team are looking forward to the opportunity to present the facts in a court of law,” the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN), whose president, Dominique Alexander, acts as a spokesperson for the Anthony family, told Fox News Digital Thursday. 

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“We have full confidence in Attorney Mike Howard and his ability to represent Mr. Anthony in this matter,” the group said. 

Howard declined to comment Thursday. 

Metcalf was 17 when he was stabbed to death during a scuffle inside the Memorial High School track team’s tent at the meet. 

Anthony was arrested on school property minutes after the stabbing and was indicted on first-degree murder charges June 24. 

“For weeks, my team has been presenting evidence to the grand jury. Today, I summarized that evidence, and I asked the grand jury to return a first-degree murder indictment against Karmelo Anthony — which they did,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said in response to the indictment. 

“With that indictment, the case now moves formally into the court system,” he said. “From this point forward, we’ll continue doing our part — fully and fairly — to pursue justice under the law. The trial schedule will be set by the court. But when the time comes, we’ll be ready.”

Howard responded to the indictment with a message of his own. 

“Today’s indictment is an expected and routine step in the legal process,” he said, adding there is an indictment in nearly every felony case. 

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“We expect that when the full story is heard, the prosecution will not be able to rule out the reasonable doubt that Karmelo Anthony may have acted in self-defense,” he said.

The arrest report from the incident said Anthony “grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it” and told Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens.”

A witness told police that Anthony then “reached into his bag, and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin.”

The witness told the officer Anthony fled after the stabbing. Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms.

Anthony allegedly told the responding school resource officer, who cuffed him upon his arrival, that he was protecting himself. The officer also noted blood on Anthony’s left middle finger. 

One officer who responded referred to Anthony as the alleged suspect, and Anthony made a “spontaneous statement,” according to the report.

“I’m not alleged. I did it,” he allegedly said.

Initially, Anthony was held in the Collin County Jail on a $1 million bond, which was later reduced to $250,000. He bonded out of jail and is on house arrest. 

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After the alleged murder, the Anthony family set up a GoFundMe, and donations poured in from across the country, sparking controversy and questions about how the money would be spent. To date, that fundraiser has accrued more than $544,000. 

Soon after, the Anthony family hired Alexander of the Dallas-based NGAN as their spokesperson. Alexander has a history of Black Lives Matter activism and has called for defunding the police. 

He has injected race into the case from the beginning.

“To the racists, the bigots and those filled with hate who’ve targeted Karmelo, his family and even myself – you do not intimidate us,” Alexander said after Anthony’s indictment. “We are not backing down.

“This case is yet another example of what it means to be Black in America, where even our self-defense is questioned, scrutinized and politicized. My involvement — like many others — came as a direct response to the overwhelming hate, threats and outside influence that have surrounded this case since day one.”

At a chaotic press conference that followed Anthony’s bond release, Alexander slammed Jeff Metcalf, Austin’s father, who attempted to attend the event. 

 

“What we’ve seen at the beginning of this press conference, of the father being at this press conference, these are my words — don’t quote anybody — is a disrespect to the dignity of his son,” Alexander said at the time. 

“What he has felled [sic] into is the political operatives that want to make this thing a political thing of hate and yet bigotry and yet racism,” he said. “We have conservative operatives that have been posting nonstop about this case.” 

Jeff Metcalf did not immediately return a comment request.