Karmelo Anthony murder trial hears Austin Metcalf’s distressing last words after 17-year-old was stabbed to death at track meet: Live updates

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS and MARYANN MARTINEZ, US TEXAS BUREAU CHIEF

Updated:

The murder trial for Karmelo Anthony, the Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a fellow student at a track meet last year, began today. 

He stands accused of first-degree murder after killing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf with a folding knife after a heated argument at the high school event in Frisco. 

Prosecutors alleged Anthony, now 19, tossed the murder weapon before fleeing the scene and attempted to blend in with fellow students while making his escape. After his arrest, he claimed he acted in self-defense in the disagreement over seating at the Centennial High School meet. He has pleaded not guilty.

Jurors were shown shocking footage on Thursday of the surveillance footage where Anthony and Metcalf tussled for four minutes before Anthony fled from the tent towards the stadium exit. 

The trial is expected to last around two weeks, with the case drawing intense national attention over race and privilege, with supporters rallying behind Anthony, saying he has been treated unfairly because he is black.

On Thursday, racially-charged protests erupted outside of the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney with Anthony supporters declaring the teenager should ‘walk free.’ A white nationalist demonstrator also sat in protest with the Confederate flag planted by his side. 

A jury of 12 men and women with six alternates was selected after roughly 600 prospective jurors were questioned in a process that began on Monday. No black jurors were seated for the trial.  

The DailyMail had all the latest updates… 

Opposing protestors seen outside of Texas courthouse

Karmelo Anthony supporters were seen demonstrating outside of the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney on Thursday chanting ‘we declare, we decree, Karmelo Anthony will walk free.’

Several were seen in ‘Free Karmelo’ t-shirts.

On the opposite side of the road, a white nationalist minister sat with a Confederate flag and signs like ‘global warming is a lie’ and ‘remember the Alamo.’

Court adjourns

Court has adjourned for the first day of Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial. Testimony is expected to resume on Friday.

Jurors view bloody photos

Members of the jury were shown a photo of Metcalf’s lifeless body at the football stadium after he passed. The photo was not shown to those in the gallery.

A second photo also showed the blood-soaked jacket that was wrapped around Metcalf after CPR failed.

After viewing the photos and listening to the 911 call, members of the jury were seen with red eyes as if they had been crying.

One juror in particular, a white or possibly Hispanic man in his 30s or 40s, looked like he cried as he leaned forward in his seat and paid close attention to Rebmann’s testimony.

911 call is played in court

The call Coach Rebmann made to 911 was played in court.

In the phone call, you could hear Redmann saying an athlete had been stabbed and was not breathing as people yelled in the background.

The coach could then be heard yelling: ‘Stay with me Austin! Stay with me Austin!’

Rebmann said he made the comment as he watched Metcalf’s eyes roll back in his head.

His last breath could then be heard in the recording.

As the phone call was played in court, Metcalf’s mother could be seen leaning forward in her seat with her head down as others in the gallery were crying.

Metcalf’s father was also seen wiping away tears with a handkerchief.

But Austin displayed no emotion as he looked straight forward and down.

Coach who called 911 describes wounds

Coach Joshua Rebmann, football coach at Liberty High school in Frisco, Texas, said Metcalf suffered a major wound to his abdomen.

He also said he had to pull Metcalf’s brother off of him before he could call 911.

The coach then testified that Metcalf lost a pulse even before the ambulances arrived.

He said Austin was gasping, but Rebmann knew it was his final breaths based on his previous military training.

Coach tells how he had to hold off Memorial track team members angry about the stabbing

Coach Cooper said he had to hold back another member of the Memorial High School track team that was angry about the stabbing.

‘He stabbed my brother,’ the black Memorial teammate allegedly said of Metcalf, before explaining that he was on the same football team with him and they were like family.

He had been so upset by the stabbing, he wanted to physically attack Anthony, the coach claimed.

Coach describes confronting Karmelo Anthony

Coach Vincent Cooper told jurors on Thursday Anthony admitted to stabbing Metcalf in the aftermath.

‘He put his hands on me. I stabbed him,’ said Cooper, the Heritage High School head football coach who said he was tasked with ensuring Anthony didn’t leave the scene.

He then told Anthony, ‘You know, if he dies, you’ve just changed your whole life.’

But Anthony retorted that Metcalf is ‘not going to die.’

When Cooper then brought up the possibility that Metcalf might die, he said it appeared the situation was ‘not registering in his mind.’

‘Anthony starts crying and we embrace,’ Cooper recounted. ‘I don’t know him so I call[ed] for a Centennial coach.’

Capitol rioter Jake Lang makes appearance at courthouse

Capitol rioter Jake Lang showed up outside the courthouse where the Karmelo Anthony trial is underway.

Videos shared online showed tensions between the protesters rose when Lang showed up at the scene, holding a sign reading ‘White Lives Matter.’

Lang, who received a pardon for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack, had just been released from custody in Collin County on Wednesday after he faced criminal trespass charges.

He is now banned from attending the murder trial.

Jake Lang demonstrates outside Gracie Mansion after a news conference by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani , Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Trainer describes trying to save Austin Metcalf

Tiffany Whiteaker told how those at the scene initially thought Austin Metcalf was having a seizure before realizing he was stabbed.

‘I grabbed his wrists to try to find a pulse,’ she said. ‘I noticed he wasn’t breathing. I said, let’s get ready for chest compressions.’

Soon, paramedics arrived and gave him blood. Whiteaker said she was then hopeful Metcalf would get better as his color returned but it was just false hope.

Trainer says it’s unusual to hang out at another team’s tent

Tiffany Whiteaker, a trainer at Memorial High School, compared team tents to locker rooms, explaining it’s not normal to hang out at another team’s tent, as she took the stand at Karmelo Anthony’s trial on Thursday.

She said she knewand Hunter Metcalf before the stabbing, and recounted how she realized something happened on April 2, 2025 when she heard a commotion in the stands and heard screaming.

A student told her that there was a stabbing and pointed out Karmelo Anthony, saying he threw the knife in the stands.

Whiteaker said she then turned Anthony over to a coach and told him he had stabbed a kid, before trying to find the victim to perform medical aid.

Only then did she realize it was Austin, whom she knew well.

Defense cross-examines Austin Metcalf’s coach

Karmelo Anthony’s lawyers asked Austin Metcalf’s coach, Rob Starr, if it was normal for students to visit other schools’ tents during track meets.

Starr said that it is not normal, but admitted it does happen occasionally.

The coach said he did not know if Anthony’s team had a tent at the track meet.

Starr agreed that Anthony looked upset when he confronted him after the stabbing.

Courtroom in tears as Starr testimony continues

Several members of the public in the courtroom are crying as the court saw a text message that Starr sent Austin one day after he died.

‘Love you man. Sorry I didn’t say that enough,’ the text read.

Metcalf’s father, Jeff, was seen wiping away tears as the court saw the exhibit.

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