A judge has released the photos and videos from the Karmelo Anthony murder trial to the public, giving people their first look at the actual evidence in one of the most divisive cases in recent memory.
Cameras were banned from the courtroom throughout the trial, meaning the newly released materials are the first visual record most people have seen.
Karmel Anthony, 19, was convicted of murder on June 9 and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas in April 2025.
What the newly released evidence shows
The newly released materials include photographs of the black folding knife used in the stabbing, surveillance footage from inside the Memorial High School team tent in the moments before the confrontation, video tracking Anthony’s movements before and after the stabbing, and police body camera footage in which Anthony can be heard saying:
“I’m not alleged, I did it.”
The release has already been seized on by both sides of the debate.
Conservative activist Jack Posobiec shared one of the evidence images on X, writing: “This was a photo of the evidence in the Austin Metcalf murder. Never forget what Karmelo Anthony did.”
What happened at the track meet
Metcalf, a linebacker at Memorial High School, was stabbed once in the chest during a weather delay at a Frisco ISD track meet. Witnesses told police that Anthony had taken shelter under Memorial’s team tent and was repeatedly asked to leave.
According to the arrest affidavit, Anthony warned students not to touch him and kept a hand in his backpack before Metcalf shoved him. Anthony then pulled out the knife and stabbed Metcalf in the heart. Metcalf was taken to the hospital where he died shortly after.
When officers arrived, Anthony told them:
“I was protecting myself.”
He was charged with murder and tried as an adult.
Jury rejected self-defense claim
The trial lasted four days. The defense argued Anthony acted out of fear given the size difference between the two teens: Metcalf stood around 6 feet tall and weighed roughly 200 pounds, while Anthony was listed at 5’11” and 162 pounds.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before rejecting the self-defense argument and finding Anthony guilty of murder. He was sentenced to 35 years, with eligibility for parole after serving half that time.
Anthony filed a notice of appeal the day after the verdict, describing himself as “penniless, destitute, and indigent” in the paperwork and asking the court to appoint him a lawyer.
He has since been transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and is being held at the Pack Unit near Navasota. Under Texas law he cannot be released on bond during the appeal.
Cardi B reacts
The conviction drew a sharp response from rapper Cardi B, who wrote on social media: “Wow! Just freakin wow! DISGUSTING… This is not justice, this is trying to make an example!!!”
The case has attracted national attention throughout, in part because of racial tensions that surrounded it online with Anthony being Black and Metcalf white.
Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors during the trial that race played no role in what happened.
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