Anthony Guilty in Track Meet Stabbing
Quick verdict not a surprise
On April 2, 2025, Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf got into a confrontation over Anthony’s presence under the Memorial High School team track tent. The situation escalated, and Anthony stabbed Metcalf in the heart. During this week’s trial, we finally got to hear from witnesses to the event.
The prosecution opened by setting the stage, explaining that a track team’s tent is sort of a quasi locker room where the team stores gear and belongings and is basically off-limits to outsiders. (In my experience, dropping by a team’s tent to say a quick hello — and engage in some light trash talk — with friends is about the extent of any “visit”.) Anthony DID know somebody inside the tent and spoke briefly with him, but then sat down after the conversation had ended.
Soon after, Metcalf asked Anthony why he was in the tent. Anthony claimed he wasn’t going to move, and that Metcalf would have to move him (but wouldn’t). Anthony placed his hand in his bag — around his knife, unbeknownst to Metcalf. At that point, Anthony said something to the effect of “Touch me and see what happens.” Metcalf went to shove Anthony, who pulled the knife out and stabbed him.
After the stabbing, Anthony attempted to ditch the weapon and run from the scene, but was quickly apprehended. He pled self defense and claimed Metcalf’s friends were ganging up on him. Prosecution witnesses — who pronounced Anthony the aggressor — and video evidence proved this was not the case.
Even the defense witnesses couldn’t help Anthony much. The witness who “knew” Anthony — presumably providing him an excuse for being there — testified that their conversation was very brief and that Anthony was the aggressor in the situation after being asked to leave repeatedly. Another witness had suggested that he had seen Anthony being ganged up on, but video evidence proved he was looking away until after the stabbing occurred. The defense employed no expert self-defense witness, and Anthony himself did not take the stand.
With these facts more or less undisputed, it wasn’t a surprise the jury came back with a guilty verdict. And although the court put a manslaughter charge in play, the jury found Anthony guilty of the much more serious murder charge. He now faces anywhere from 5 years to life in prison.
Edit 5:49 PDT: Anthony has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison.
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Dumbest commentator of the day award goes to this guy:
This is more of a comments thing than an article thing, but the way that Anthony's family handled this was disgusting -- trying to make it all about race and fundraising off of that. (Then blowing all the cash and hiring a doofus lawyer) Supporters repeatedly told news outlets that they had seen video evidence of the Memorial team ganging up on Anthony and he was only being charged because he was black. Disgusting.
I've been sitting here saying "thank God" for an hour now.
It's a terrible thing to raise one's children badly. I was thinking also of The Crown Act, and how poorly that serves young black people. And how today's guidance to shut down Disparate Impact has come too late for Karmelo and for Austin both.
I've posted many times now in various places about what I saw, day after day, three seasons a year for six years, working in a NYC children's farm, and how little black kids mostly start off perfectly normal, eager to learn and hungry for affection, and by third grade the gangster factory that is public school has irreparably rendered too many of them unfit to live in society, and how especially terribly black lady teachers treat little black boys.
But kids like Austin should not have to pay for what black parents do to their own. Karmelo, no matter what his upbringing and schooling had done to him, still had agency to turn another way. I hope one way or another he never leaves prison.