Jury hears dueling narratives at trial of Texas teen who killed another athlete at school track meet

Jurors heard dueling narratives from prosecutor Bill Wirskye and defense attorney Michael Howard, who repeatedly emphasized during his closing argument that Anthony was defending himself after Metcalf wanted him to exit a tent that belonged to the track team from Frisco Memorial High School.

The courtroom at the Collin County courthouse was packed again as the public passed through an extra security checkpoint to get inside and watch before jurors began their deliberations.

Howard told jurors that Metcalf had “no legal right to put his hands on Karmelo.”

“Texas law does not require that you wait until you get hit,” Howard said. “In that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes.”

Wirskye suggested it was strange that a teen would bring a knife to a school sports competition. He said deadly force has to be “immediately necessary” to be legal, and he also noted that Anthony was told roughly a dozen times to leave the rival school's tent, which was perched in the stadium bleachers.

“This is not self-defense, folks. It’s murder plain and simple,” the prosecutor said.

Wirskye also made a broader pitch to the jury: “Ultimately, this case is about accountability. What kind of community do you want to live in.”

Anthony, who was a student at Centennial High School, could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder. Judge John Roach Jr. said the jury also could consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

If jurors don't reach a verdict Tuesday, they'll be sequestered without phones in a hotel.

Over a nearly weeklong trial, Anthony's attorneys sought to show that he was forced to defend himself. Several schools were competing on that rainy day, and Metcalf and others had repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation.

Trial witnesses described Anthony as the aggressor. Several students testified that Metcalf pushed Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest. Many questions from the lawyers centered on team culture at track meets and the confrontation in the tent.

One teammate told jurors that Anthony was “distraught” after the stabbing.

“I was hearing him say, ‘I told him not to touch me,’” the teenager testified Monday.

The judge ordered that the names of teenage witnesses not be made public.

The death last year quickly drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white.

After the stabbing, Jeff Metcalf, Austin's father, condemned those who seized on the race of the teens. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors during the trial that race had nothing to do with the case.