McKINNEY, Texas — A Texas medical examiner testified at the Karmelo Anthony murder trial Saturday, saying that the 17-year-old victim, Austin Metcalf, was stabbed through the heart.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
Anthony, 19, was charged in connection with the April 2, 2025, stabbing of Metcalf — a student from a rival school — during an altercation at a track meet at a high school in Frisco, Texas. He has pleaded not guilty.
On the trial’s third day, Collin County’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Elizabeth Ventura, took the stand and reiterated that Metcalf’s cause of death was a stab wound to the chest and the manner was homicide.
Ventura said that the wound was oval-shaped and 2 inches in length, describing it as “gaping.”
She said the wound perforated both the chest bone and the pericardium, the sac that surrounds the heart, and penetrated the right ventricle.
Asked by the prosecution if the stabbing was survivable, Ventura said, “no.”
Ventura also showed several autopsy photos to the jurors, with Texas District Court Judge John Roach Jr. overruling objections from Anthony’s attorney to show some of the images.
Ahead of Ventura’s testimony, Roach said people in the gallery could leave if they wanted to because of its content.
Metcalf’s mother left the courtroom. Some of Metcalf’s friends chose to stay, with several in tears as the medical examiner’s testimony went on.
Ventura was the prosecution’s final witness before resting their case.
Within the last few days of testimony, several of Metcalf’s former classmates who witnessed the killing have taken the stand. They said that their friend was stabbed after Anthony sat uninvited under a tent reserved for Metcalf’s school, Memorial High School in Frisco, and refused to leave.
On Saturday, a male student testified that Metcalf was not originally part of the group of students trying to get Anthony to leave the tent, but then he took the lead with the effort.
“Bro just leave ,” Metcalf said, according to the teen. “We don’t want you here.”
The teenager added that Metcalf said he didn’t want to fight and was “calm.”
When asked by prosecutors if Anthony was the aggressor, the teenager said: “yes.”
“Touch me and see what happens,” Anthony said to Metcalf, according to the teenager.
The student then saw Metcalf fall.
“We only knew what happened when he lifted his shirt and saw a big hole,” the student testified.
It was the witness’s first track meet, he said. His identity is not being made public after Roach issued an order on Friday barring public identification of any minor witnesses.
Racial divisions around the case have propelled it to the national forefront, drawing the attention of both right-wing agitators and civil rights organizations. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white.
Anthony’s attorney is arguing that his client was acting in self-defense.
“This case has nothing to do with race,” Texas prosecutor Bill Wirskye said on Thursday during his opening remarks. “This case is not self-defense. Unjustified provoked murder — that’s why we’re here this morning.”
Earlier this week, Next Generation Action Network, a civil rights organization that has been advocating in favor of Anthony, denounced the racial makeup of the jurors. Several of the jurors are people of color, but none are Black.
Anthony was 17 at the time of the killing. In Texas, 17-year-olds are considered adults. If Anthony is found guilty, he could face five years to life in state prison.
He posted a $250,000 bond for his release and has since been under house arrest. Representatives for Anthony have created a crowdfunding page, which has raised over $600,000, to help him pay for legal fees and other expenses.
Maria Guerrero reported from McKinney and Matt Lavietes from New York.