A Texas court just released the evidence that put Karmelo Anthony away for 35 years — and the footage dismantles every self-defense claim his attorneys sold the jury, which still convicted him. For ordinary Americans tracking whether the justice system still works when the press and activists pile on, the video, audio, and photos speak for themselves.
The trove, released Friday by the 296th District Court in Collin County, includes body-camera footage that captures Anthony's own words moments after he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in the chest at a Frisco high school track meet in April 2025. As a school resource officer radios that he has the "alleged suspect" in custody, Anthony corrects him: "I'm not alleged. I did it. He put his hands on me. I told him not to. He put his hands on me." He then asks officers, "Am I going to be OK?" — weeping as handcuffs go on.
So much for self-defense. The jury rejected that claim outright, convicting Anthony of first-degree murder earlier this month.
The confrontation started over a tent. Witnesses testified Metcalf confronted Anthony for sitting under a tent reserved for Memorial High School athletes during a rain delay. Surveillance video — enhanced and presented at trial — shows a brief back-and-forth under the tent before Anthony emerges and flees. The actual stabbing isn't clearly visible due to the camera's distance, but prosecutors used the footage to reconstruct Anthony as the aggressor.
The 911 calls released alongside the video are gutting. One caller tells dispatch: "My friend's bleeding everywhere." Another, identified as "Mason," says: "You need to send an ambulance right now. My friend just got stabbed." Callers reported Metcalf was unconscious but still breathing.
Autopsy photos show the knife wound to Metcalf's chest with a forensic ruler beside it. Other images show the folding knife prosecutors identified as the murder weapon, a blood-soaked coach's jacket used to try to stop the bleeding, and Anthony's backpack.
The New York Post highlighted Anthony's apparent confession prominently. WJLA covered the evidence release straight, noting the self-defense claim and the conviction. The Daily Wire went further, reporting that since the trial, "Anthony's family members and others have falsely claimed that the jury was 'all white' and thus not truly the 'jury of his peers' the justice system is supposed to provide." That narrative — pushed without evidence — is the kind of institutional media play that poisons public trust when the facts don't cooperate.
Anthony's attorneys have already filed notice of appeal, and the family has retained new counsel. The conviction stands. The evidence is public. What remains to be seen is whether the appeals courts bend to narrative pressure or let a jury's verdict hold.
