BREAKING: Defense rests in Karmelo Anthony trial as student witness backs off claim killer was 'surrounded' before Metcalf stabbing

The defense has rested its case in the trial of Karmelo Anthony, who was charged with fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Memorial High School track meet in Frisco, Texas in April of 2025. The prosecution had rested its case on Saturday after calling 21 witnesses. The jury has been released from the courthouse and will return on Tuesday for closing arguments. Anthony did not testify.

A witness brought by the defense in the murder trial of Austin Metcalf revealed that they no longer supported the notion that Anthony was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Metcalf at the meet. That witness, a Centennial High School student who was teammates with Anthony on the football and track teams and who was not identified as he is a minor, had previously told police that Anthony was surrounded prior to his killing of Metcalf.

"According to prosecutors, this teen told police that Karmelo Anthony was surrounded," reported Breanna Morello. "Prosecutors replay the video of the stabbing (which is grainy). The teen admits he can’t tell if they surrounded Karmelo from the footage. The teen earlier said that they ganged up on him. Now the teen says he doesn’t want to use the term 'surrounding' to describe the scene."

A Frisco High School student who attended the meet also testified, telling the courtroom that he had been standing by the gates of the stadium and had a limited view of the incident. "Everybody was standing up and I saw somebody get pushed or get punched, I don't know which," he told the defense. During cross-examination, the student admitted that he did not fully remember the events of the day and that his memories did not fully line up with video evidence from the day.
 

In the court on Friday, a student testified that Anthony had been asked to leave the tent around 15 times leading up to the stabbing. Multiple teen students who were present at the meet testified about the lead-up to the stabbing, including Anthony being told by Metcalf to leave the team's tent.