Karmelo Anthony is back in the headlines after a Texas court released the police bodycam footage from his arrest, giving the public its first clear look at the moments right after the stabbing that left 17-year-old Austin Metcalf dead. The video was made public on Friday by the Collin County court, following the jury that convicted Karmelo Anthony of first-degree murder and sentenced him to 35 years in prison earlier this month.
The footage picks up as a Frisco officer detains him on the north end of the stadium. The officer instructs him not to reach for anything, then begins coordinating over the radio, calling off the other units and clearing medics to reach the victim under a memorial tent. He pats Karmelo Anthony down, checks his pockets and his hood, and notes out loud that there is blood on his hands. The officer then asks for his name, spelling it out over the radio, and confirms that he attended Frisco Centennial High School and was in the 12th grade. At one point in the video, Karmelo Anthony is heard muttering an expletive under his breath while the officer works.The clip also captures the statements that have driven much of the reaction online. According to the released footage, Karmelo Anthony told officers that the other teen put his hands on him after he warned him not to, repeating the line as he was detained. In another moment widely circulated from the video, when an officer referred to him as the alleged suspect, he is heard correcting the officer and saying he was not alleged, telling him plainly that he did it. Those words have become the center of the conversation now that the case has closed.
The incident happened on April 2, 2025, during a district track and field championship at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco. Both teens were 17. Austin Metcalf attended Memorial High School and Karmelo Anthony attended Centennial, and the fatal confrontation unfolded during a rain delay. Metcalf was stabbed in the chest and died at the scene, with reports describing him dying in the arms of his twin brother, who was there at the meet. Karmelo Anthony was taken into custody the same day and charged with murder within hours.
The case moved to a full jury trial rather than ending in any plea agreement. Throughout the proceedings, Karmelo Anthony maintained that he acted in self-defense, arguing he had to protect himself after the other teen made physical contact first. Prosecutors framed it as a deliberate killing. After closing arguments on June 9, the jury rejected the self-defense claim, convicted him of first-degree murder, and handed down a 35 year sentence. The bodycam release is part of the wave of evidence the court unsealed once that verdict came down.
The court released far more than the arrest video. Among the materials made public were surveillance clips, one showing Karmelo Anthony walking past the track tents before the stabbing and another showing him fleeing the tent and running through the stands and onto the track afterward. Officials also released photographs of the folding multi-tool knife prosecutors identified as the weapon, a blood-soaked jacket, his backpack, and 911 audio in which a bystander can be heard saying an athlete had been stabbed while an Army veteran applied pressure to the wound. Together the materials lay out the timeline jurors saw before reaching their decision.
The story is not fully over. Karmelo Anthony has filed a notice of appeal, and his legal team is expected to argue that errors during the trial may have affected the verdict or the sentence. Reports indicate an additional attorney has joined his appeal while he claims he can no longer pay for counsel. The case drew national attention from the start and split the country along familiar lines, with competing fundraisers, dueling narratives, and heated debate over whether the killing was self-defense or murder. The newly released footage has reopened all of it, even with a conviction now on the books, and the appeal means the legal fight is only entering its next phase.
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