Karmelo
Anthony.
Stand Up.

On the evening of April 2, 2025, Karmelo Anthony — a seventeen-year-old honor student, captain of both his football and track teams at Centennial High School, carrying a 3.7 GPA, working two jobs — was sitting under a tent at a UIL track meet in Frisco, Texas. It was raining so heavily that officers could not take witness statements outside. Police pulled witnesses into a locker room because the rain came down too hard to write.

Karmelo was seeking shelter. He was not the aggressor. Austin Metcalf and his twin brother Hunter approached and confronted him. Karmelo's own father stated publicly: "He was not the aggressor. He was not the one who started it." Multiple witnesses corroborate this account.

"I was protecting myself. He put his hands on me." — Karmelo Anthony, first words to responding officers, April 2, 2025

When Austin Metcalf physically grabbed and pushed Karmelo to remove him from the tent, Karmelo defended himself. He then walked directly to officers, hands open. He identified himself. He asked, more than once, whether Austin was going to be okay. He did not run. He did not resist. He cooperated fully.

He was arrested on the spot. He was held on a $1,000,000 bond — later reduced to $250,000 after Judge Angela Tucker determined the original amount was facially excessive for a teenager with zero criminal history. He has been under house arrest with an ankle monitor since April 14, 2025. He has checked in with the court every single Friday without fail for over thirteen months.

On June 24, 2025, a grand jury indicted him on first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty. His defense is expected to argue self-defense. Trial begins June 1, 2026.