(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) After being sentenced to 35 years in prison for murder, Karmelo Anthony continues to enjoy the support of a small group of defenders who bizarrely portrayed his conviction as an example of racial injustice.
Anthony received the sentence after a jury found him guilty in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, a Texas high school student, during an altercation at a track meet in April 2025.
Outside the Frisco courthouse, Anthony supporters held signs reading “Karmelo Is Innocent” and “Free Karmelo.” Others wept and slammed the jury’s guilty verdict.
One black woman defending Anthony, visibly distraught, echoed the defense’s claim that the stabbing was an act of self-defense. She also brought up her children, asking what she was supposed to tell them following the verdict.
“Why are we here? Why we here for? [sic]. Because if we stand up for ourselves, we go to jail. If we don’t, we die,” she told reporters with WFLA Now’s HeyJB Live.
“What do you want us to do? What do you want us to do at this point? … I don’t know what to do. I got 5 boys, I ain’t got nothin to tell ’em no more.”
Karmelo Anthony supporter: "What do I tell my 5 boys? What do we do now!?"
Uh… don't murder? pic.twitter.com/DGrnCbhhe6
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 9, 2026
Standing behind her, a man interjected: “Rest in peace, Trayvon Martin.”
Martin was a Florida teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman during a confrontation in 2012. His death is widely viewed as a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Another woman apparently broke down in tears after hearing the guilty verdict, according to live feeds of the protests.
As prosecutors detailed at trial, Anthony stabbed Metcalf during an altercation after being asked to leave a tent reserved for members of Metcalf’s high school.
Anthony attended the rival school, Centennial High School, and was not authorized to be under the tent, according to testimony.
After being repeatedly asked to leave, Anthony pulled out a folding knife and stabbed Metcalf during the argument.
Autopsy photos shown to jurors revealed that the wound was so deep it penetrated Metcalf’s chest and pierced his heart. Collin County chief medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura told jurors the wound was not survivable.
During trial, Anthony’s defense attorneys did not dispute that he stabbed Metcalf, claiming instead that he acted in self-defense.
Witnesses disputed that characterization, testifying that Anthony had attempted to provoke Metcalf and his teammates before the confrontation.
“He committed murder,” a witness said.
