Suspected Texas track meet killer expected to walk free after bond slashed

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Karmelo Anthony hires new attorney before Monday bond hearing

Karmelo Anthony hired an experienced criminal defense lawyer Saturday to represent him in the stabbing death of Texas high school track star Austin Metcalf. (KDFW)

Collin County District Judge Angela Tucker on Monday significantly lowered the bond of the teenager who is accused of stabbing Austin Metcalf to death at a high school track meet on April 2 in Frisco, Texas. 

Karmelo Anthony, 17, faces first-degree murder charges in Metcalf’s death. His bond was dropped from $1 million to $250,000. His newest criminal defense attorney, Mike Howard, hired Saturday, said Anthony will post bond, but he is unsure exactly when.

“I anticipate that he will be able make bond,” Howard told reporters after the hearing. “I can’t speak to how quickly that will go. The funds that have been raised are not quick to come out and then there’s obviously a process to the release process once bond is posted.”

Anthony is accused of stabbing Metcalf, also 17, at a high school track meet. Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms.

Karmelo Anthony, 17, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. (FOX 4)

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The Anthony family had crowdfunded almost $415,000 on the platform GiveSendGo as of Monday morning. 

Anthony’s bond conditions include house arrest and an ankle monitor, and he will only be able to leave his home with the judge’s permission.

“Every Texan has the right to defend themselves when they reasonably fear for their life,” Howard said. “Self-defense is a protection that applies to each and every one of us. There are two sides to every story.”

“This is a tragedy all the way around for both families,” he added. “Rushing to judgment, trial by public perception, and trial by media is not how we ensure justice is done. We are confident that, after a full investigation, that the truth will come out.”

Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said the case will be taken to a grand jury.

“The judge has made the call, and so what’s important is what’s next,” he said. “Frisco PD will be finishing up their investigation. They will submit the case to my office. We will review it and ultimately present it to a grand jury, and so that’s what’s next. That’s really much, pretty much all I can say right now. We do our, speaking as far as the facts go, in the courtroom.”

If convicted, Anthony cannot face the death penalty because he is a juvenile, thanks to a 2005 Supreme Court ruling in a case called Roper v. Simmons.

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Austin Metcalf, 17, was stabbed to death at a Texas track meet. (Jeff Metcalf)

“The Supreme Court has said not only can you not seek the death penalty against someone who committed a crime when they’re 17, you can’t even get them life without parole,” Willis said last week. “That would not be something we could do even if we wanted to.”

Metcalf was laid to rest Saturday.

“My son is gone, and he’ll never come home again,” Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf, said Thursday on “America Reports.”

“Do not politicize this,” he added. “It’s not… this is a human being thing. This person made a bad choice and affected both his family and my family forever.”

“People ask me, how can you forgive this other person? I said I forgive the other person because the forgiveness is not for him. The forgiveness is for me so I can have peace,” he said. 

“His life is destroyed. My life is destroyed.”

The altercation unfolded under a tent at a track meet in Frisco. The arrest report from the incident said Anthony “grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it” and told Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens.”

Austin Metcalf, 17, was fatally stabbed at a track meet on Wednesday. (FOX DFW Chopper)

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In the next moment, a witness told police that Anthony “reached into his bag and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin.”

The witness told the officer that Anthony deserted the scene following the stabbing. Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms.

Anthony told the responding school resource officer, who cuffed him upon arrival at the scene, that he was protecting himself. The officer also noted blood on Anthony’s left middle finger. 

One officer at the scene referred to Anthony as the alleged suspect, and Anthony made a “spontaneous statement,” according to the report: “I’m not alleged, I did it.”

File photo of Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, who was stabbed in the chest allegedly by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Frisco Centennial High School. (Courtesy Jeff Metcalf)

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Anthony also asked the officers if Metcalf was “going to be OK” and asked if what happened could be considered “self-defense,” the report said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Howard for comment.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Brooke Taylor and Lindsey Reese contributed to this report.

Peter D’Abrosca joined Fox News Digital in 2025 after four years as a politics reporter at The Tennessee Star. 

He grew up in Rhode Island and is a graduate of Elon University. 

Follow Peter on X at @pmd_reports. Send story tips to peter.dabrosca@fox.com.