A Texas teenager charged with stabbing another teen to death at a high school track meet in April was indicted on Tuesday.
Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis brought the case to a grand jury, which indicted Karmelo Anthony, now 18, on first-degree murder, KDFW reported.
“Earlier this spring, our community was shaken by what happened at a school track meet in Frisco — the violent loss of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf,” Willis said. “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.”
Witnesses say the two teens got into a dispute in the stadium bleachers during the April 2 track meet when the two, who did not know one another, argued over seating, as CrimeOnline reported.
According to arrest documents, Anthony told a school resource officer that Metcalf “put his hands” on him and objected when the arresting officer called him the “alleged” suspect. “I’m not alleged,” he said. “I did it.” He also asked arresting officers if Metcalf was going to be OK and told them he took action in self defense.
Metcalf’s father said he was “pleased” with the indictment.
“I fully believe that justice will be served for Austin Metcalf,” Jeff Metcalf said. “I look forward to the forthcoming trial. But it will never bring my son back.”
Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, said the indictment was “an expected and routine step in the legal process.”
“An indictment simply means that a grand jury, after hearing only the prosecution’s side of the story, determined that there was enough evidence to allow the case to move forward to court.,” he said.
“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,” Howard said.
No date has been set for the trial. Anthony was released on bond on April 14 and has been on house arrest since that time, although the family moved him to an undisclosed location in the wake of increasing harassment at their home. He faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted.
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[Featured image: Karmelo Anthony/Collin County Sheriff’s Office and Austin Metcalf/handout]
