{"id":27845,"date":"2026-06-03T09:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=27845"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:30:39","slug":"no-one-wants-to-save-that-monster-now-but-the-jurys-decision-is-all-that-matters-as-karmelo-anthony-prepares-to-stand-trial-in-the-fatal-stabbing-of-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=27845","title":{"rendered":"\u2018NO ONE WANTS TO SAVE THAT MONSTER NOW\u2026 BUT THE JURY\u2019S DECISION IS ALL THAT MATTERS.\u2019\u201d As Karmelo Anthony prepares to stand trial in the fatal stabbing of Texas teen Austin Metcalf, legal experts say the defense strategy that has dominated headlines could face a major test in court. What happened in those few seconds under a track meet tent remains fiercely debated, but one key detail may ultimately determine whether jurors accept Anthony\u2019s version of events \u2014 or reject it entirely. With emotions still running high and a grieving family waiting for answers, the case is entering its most critical chapter yet."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why the jury might not buy Karmelo Anthony\u2019s self-defense claim in fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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Karmelo Anthony\u2019s self-defense claim has major problems in fatal stabbing of Texas teen: Attorney<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Karmelo Anthony\u2019s self-defense claim\u00a0in the stabbing death of fellow teen Austin Metcalf\u00a0in Texas won\u2019t get him acquitted of murder charges \u2014 in spite of raising $600,000 for a big-name lawyer, a veteran defense attorney claimed.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old from Frisco, who is black, is charged with first-degree murder for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Metcalf,\u00a0who died in his twin brother\u2019s arms\u00a0on April 2, 2025.<\/p>\n

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\"Karmelo<\/div>
Karmelo Anthony walks free on a $250,000 bond under house arrest in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf.FOX 4 NEWS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Headshot<\/div>
Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, was stabbed in the chest, allegedly by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Frisco Centennial High School.Meghan Prall Metcalf\/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anthony plans to claim he was acting in self-defense when he pulled a knife and stabbed Metcalf, whom his family said the defendant flagrantly attacked during a dispute over a seat in the bleachers.<\/p>\n

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But Anthony will be hard-pressed to prove he was actually\u00a0in life-threatening danger,\u00a0said Randy Zelin, an attorney of 38 years who is not involved in the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t be justified in killing someone with a knife and stabbing them in the chest if they were not about to use immediately use deadly force on you,\u201d said Zelin, who has served as both a prosecutor and defense attorney and is an adjunct professor at the Cornell School of Law.<\/p>\n

Authorities say Metcalf, who attended a rival school, did put his hands on Anthony, but he merely tried to shove him out from under his team\u2019s awning.<\/p>\n

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\"Arrest<\/div>
Arrest photo for Karmelo Anthony, who was 17 at the time.Frisco Police Department<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Karmelo<\/div>
Karmelo Anthony with activist minister Dominique Alexander, who has promoted his self-defense claim to the public.@niquealex\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anthony told the\u00a0victim, \u201cTouch me and see what happens\u201d with a hand in his backpack, ready to pull the knife and stab Metcalf at the slightest provocation, prosecutors allege.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the defendant was doing with a knife on him, I think, is going to be telling. So you have the absence of the ability to use deadly force versus someone having deadly force immediately on hand,\u201d Zelin said.<\/p>\n

But Anthony has one ace in the hole, Zelin added: his race.<\/p>\n

Anthony\u2019s defense has tried to cast Metcalf\u00a0as a white bully\u00a0flagrantly assaulting a black victim, with the murder charge the product of a racist justice system.<\/p>\n

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\"Austin<\/div>
Austin Metcalf with his twin brother, Hunter.Jeff Metcalf \/ Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The narrative turned the case into a culture war, with supporters donating more than $600,000 to pay for Anthony\u2019s big-name Dallas lawyer, Mike Howard.<\/p>\n

Zelin said playing up the racial dynamic shows how desperate his case is.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a defense attorney \u2026 my job is to get my client off by any means, reasonably and legally necessary. So if I can play the race card and I can be the second coming of Johnnie Cochran, and my client walks out of the courthouse with me, either acquitted or with a hung jury, I\u2019ll sleep that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jury selection in Anthony\u2019s trial began Monday, and attorneys are expected to deliver opening statements on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why the jury might not buy Karmelo Anthony\u2019s self-defense claim in fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf Karmelo Anthony\u2019s self-defense claim has major problems in fatal stabbing of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27847,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27845\/revisions\/27847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}