A confrontation at a high school track meet in Texas left one teen dead and another facing a murder charge. And as the investigation into what led up to the tragic event continues, some members of the community are rallying around the 17-year-old suspect.
A Deadly Confrontation Leads to a Call of Self-Defense
According to a post on X, Frisco, Texas, police say they arrived on the scene at the David Kuykendall Stadium around 10:00 am on April 2. They were responding to calls of “an altercation between two students which resulted in one stabbing the other.”
Witnesses told police that 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, who is white, got into a disagreement with 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, who is Black, after he asked Anthony to remove himself from a tent that was set up for athletes from Metcalf’s school, PEOPLE reported.
Bystanders said they heard Anthony telling Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens.” When the confrontation got physical, they said Anthony pulled a knife out of a backpack and stabbed Metcalf in the chest before running away. Metcalf was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Anthony is being held in Collin County Jail on a one million dollar bond and has been charged with first degree murder, according to NBC5DFW.
Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that Anthony told police at the scene that he stabbed Metcalf in self-defense. “He put his hands on me,” the teenager said. “I told him not to.”
Trying to Change the Narrative
While Anthony’s family prepares his legal defense, they want to convince others that the image of the teenager as a cold-blooded killer is a false narrative. The family has set up a support fund on the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo to support his legal defense.
“The narrative being spread is false, unjust, and harmful. As a family of faith, we are deeply grateful for all of your support during this trying period. Your prayers and assistance mean more to us now more than ever,” the family wrote on the donation page.
The fund has raised over $274,000 to date, and donors are leaving words of encouragement for the teen and his family.
“The truth will come to light. Keep your head high my friend,” wrote one anonymous donor.
Others want the public to see Anthony as a hero as a 2021 news article posted by a mother claims Anthony saved her child from drowning in a pool when he was 14 years old. Pictures of an unverified print article has been making its way across social media. The Root has been unable to confirm this story.
“Yeah it’s real this way‼️ FOREVER STANDING WITH KARMELO cause my son could have been dead and HE SAVE HIM OUT THAT POOL🥺,” the mother wrote in her April 7 Instagram post.
Additionally, there are those who say this wasn’t Anthony’s first encounter with the Metcalf brothers, who have reportedly bullied him in the past. One person’s Facebook post says he knows the kind of home Anthony was raised in.
“Karmelo comes from a home filled with love—surrounded by a beautiful, diverse family of all colors, and backgrounds. Race has never been a factor in his heart, because love is what raised him,” Kevin Hayes wrote on Facebook. “When people who have never met him—who don’t know his heart, his story, his spirit—try to tear him down, it reveals just how broken this world can be. It shows how quick society is to judge, to stereotype, to villainize—especially when it comes to our youth.”
Meanwhile, the Frisco Police Department is warning the community not to trust everything they read online.
“Only official releases from verified accounts should be trusted,” a FPD spokesperson wrote in an April post on X. “Do not contribute to the misinformation by spreading unconfirmed information.”