The family of a 17 -year -old student accused of murder in the fatal stabbing of another student at a high school meeting last week is “sincerely sad” for death, adolescent lawyers said in their first public statement from the incident while asking the public to “refrain from hurrying to judge.”
The incident occurred on April 2 in a stadium in the Independent School District of Frisco in Frisco, Texas, during an athletics championship that involves multiple schools in the district.
Austin Metcalf, 17, a 11th grade student in Frisco Memorial High School, died after the police said that another student stabbed him during an altercation in the stands at the meeting.
The suspect in the deadly stabbing, Karmelo Anthony, a student of the Crisnnial cold school, has been accused of first degree murder, police said.
His family has retained the defense lawyers of the Dallas-Fort Worth Clark area of the law firm Clark and Kim Cole of K Cole Law in the case, according to a joint press release of their signatures.
“Karmelo and the whole Anthony family saddens themselves because a life was lost and offers their condolences to Austin Metcalf’s family,” lawyers said in a statement on Monday.
“During this difficult time, we urge the public to refrain from hurrying to judge before all the facts and evidence occur,” they continued. “Karmelo, like all citizens of the United States, has the right to a fair and impartial legal process; we are committed to ensuring that Karmelo’s rights are protected in each phase of the criminal justice system.”
The reserve photo for Karmelo Anthony.
Frisco Police Department
Anthony is detained in the Collin County prison with a bail of $ 1 million.
The lawyers said they plan to work with the Office of the Collin County District Prosecutor to seek a reduced bond and a “better determination of the position presented.”
“This will certainly be a long way ahead and during this challenging moment, we ask for sentences for both families and ask for their patience and respect for the legal process while we are looking for the truth,” the lawyers said.
Following the incident, Anthony’s family has launched a collection of funds on the Givenggo platform, which until the early hours of Tuesday afternoon has raised more than $ 236,000. The fund collection page did not detail how the funds will be used.
Anthony supposedly confessed the murder and the officers say he told them that he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.
An officer who answered the scene said Anthony told him not to aspire, without asking any questions about the incident: “I was protecting me,” according to the arrest report.
When the officer advised another officer who replied that he had “the alleged suspect,” according to the reports, Anthony replied: “I am not alleged, I did,” according to the arrest report.
Police respond to a fatal stabbing at the David Kuykendall stadium in Frisco, Texas, on April 2, 2025.
Panel
Anthony “made another spontaneous statement” and, according to the reports, asked an officer if what happened “could be considered self -defense,” according to the arrest report.
The stabbing occurred under the memorial high school store in the stadium stands at approximately 10 am on April 2, according to the arrest report.
The officers who responded said they spoke with multiple witnesses, including one that reported that the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move from his team’s store, according to the arrest report.
The witness reported that Anthony supposedly reached his bag and said: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to the arrest report.
Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, according to a witness, and Anthony supposedly took out what the witness described as a black knife and “stabbed Austin once in the chest and then escaped,” said the arrest report.
Austin Metcalf in brochure photo.
Metcalf family
“It simply makes no sense,” said Metcalf’s mother, Meghan Metcalf, Dallas ABC Affiliate Panel In emotional comments last week. “Just because the child was angry, my son is no longer here, and I don’t understand.”
Frisco Police chief David Shilson described the incident as an “act of meaningless violence” in a Long statement Last week, while offering its “deepest condolences to all the families involved, especially the Metcalf family.”
He also warned that false information related to stabbing in social networks was being distributed and “only to trust information that comes from official releases and verified sources.”
Shilson said the police are investigating a false account created using their name that was “perpetuating the wrong information” in the incident. A spokesman for the Frisco Police Department told ABC News on Tuesday that detectives are “actively investigating the matter” and considering the position of online supplantation.
