Jury selection resumed on Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of Karmelo Anthony, who is accused of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco regional track meet in April 2025.
About 500 prospective jurors reported to the Collin County courthouse in McKinney on Monday, where they completed a detailed questionnaire before being released. Those asked to return on Wednesday will undergo additional questioning as the pool is reduced to 12 jurors and six alternates, according to Fox 4 KDFW.
The presiding judge intends to seat the panel by Thursday so that opening statements can begin. Prosecutors have prepared a list of 35 witnesses, and the trial could last up to two weeks.
Anthony’s defense team is expected to argue that the stabbing was an act of self-defense. Prosecutors will carry the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he was not acting to protect himself.
Court officials have banned cameras inside the courtroom and will limit the use of electronic devices once testimony begins. Officials said the restrictions are intended to keep the proceedings orderly and reduce outside influence on a case that has drawn international attention and become racially charged amid months of online speculation and misinformation.
Demonstrators from both sides gathered outside the courthouse Monday morning.
Anthony, a student at Centennial High School, is charged in the April 2, 2025, death of Metcalf, a Memorial High School student. Police said the two argued over seating in the stands at Kuykendall Stadium before Anthony stabbed Metcalf in the chest, according to The Dallas Express.
Witnesses said Anthony was sitting beneath the Memorial High School team tent when Metcalf told him to leave. Investigators reported finding no evidence that the two knew each other before that day.
An arrest report stated that witnesses pointed Anthony out to a school resource officer, who found him on the north end of the track, The Dallas Express reported last year.
“I gave the suspect instructions to keep his hands up in the air. During this time, the suspect said verbally out loud, ‘I was protecting myself,'” the officer wrote in the report. The suspect also stated, “He put his hands on me.”
After the officer told colleagues he had the “alleged suspect” in custody, Anthony interjected: “I’m not alleged. I did it.”
“He put his hands on me. I told him not to,” Anthony continued as officers escorted him out of the stadium in handcuffs, according to the report. The document states that Anthony later asked officers whether the victim would be okay and “asked if what happened could be considered self-defense.”
