Karmelo Anthony Learns His Prison Sentence For The Murder Of Austin Metcalf

Karmelo Anthony has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of high school athlete Austin Metcalf.

The jury rendered the sentencing on Tuesday evening, hours after issuing a guilty verdict on a first-degree murder charge.

Daily Mail reporter MaryAnn Martinez, who is inside the courtroom, said the only person to speak during the punishment phase of the trial was Anthony’s mother. “Please have mercy on my son,” she reportedly told jurors while sobbing.

The only person to take the stand in the punishment phase was Karmelo Anthony’s mother. She begged for mercy.
‘Please have mercy on my son,’ Hayes sobbed as she looked at the jury.
Both sides have closed out their cases. The court is now working on a charging document and will…

— MaryAnn Martinez (@MaryAnnreports) June 9, 2026

Anthony, who is black, fatally stabbed Metcalf, who was white, at a track event in April 2025 in Frisco, Texas. The case quickly garnered national attention, both due to a narrative peddled by the Anthony family and the glaring lack of coverage from the legacy media, which routinely highlights and escalates white-on-black incidents.

Legal commentators have said throughout the trial that the defense had an incredibly poor showing, and the state’s case was effectively airtight. Witnesses blew apart any racial narrative peddled by the Anthony family, and video evidence showed that Anthony was not surrounded by a mob of people, but only confronted by Metcalf after he was told to leave the team’s tent up to 15 times by different people. Also, of note, witnesses say Metcalf explicitly told Anthony he would not fight him.

The trial, from start to finish, lasted only nine days, including jury selection. The jury rendered a guilty verdict mere hours after they were set to deliberate.

Related: Jury Reaches Verdict In Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial