A Texas teenager charged with stabbing another teen to death at a high school track meet in April was indicted on Tuesday.
Greg Willis, the District Attorney for Collin County, presented a case to a grand jury, resulting in the indictment of 18-year-old Karmelo Anthony for first-degree murder, according to KDFW.
“Earlier this spring, our community was deeply affected by the tragic event at a school track meet in Frisco—where 17-year-old Austin Metcalf lost his life violently,” Willis stated. “For several weeks, my office has been laying out the evidence before the grand jury. Today, I provided a summary of that evidence and requested a first-degree murder charge against Karmelo Anthony—which the grand jury has endorsed.”
According to witnesses, the young men engaged in a conflict over seating during the April 2 track meet in the stadium bleachers, despite being strangers to one another, as reported by CrimeOnline.
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.
