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Crime House exists because of listeners like you. Subscribe to Crime House plus for ad free episodes of Crime House 24. 7 and episodes from across the entire Crime House lineup every show, every week. No interruptions. You'll also get at least two bonus episodes from Crime House every month. To join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free on the top of The Crime House 24. Seven show page. This is Crime House. All right my friends, it's time for your daily true crime rundown. Grab your coffee, settle in here because we're following another dramatic case that everyone's been following where new information is now emerging. You're going to want to hear every detail. A 17 year old walked onto a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas and never walked off. And this this week the jury that heard his killer's case handed down a sentence of 35 years in prison. This is crime house 24. Seven, your non stop source for the biggest crime cases developing right now. And if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Vanessa Richardson and we have quite a lineup for you today. Here's what you need to know. This Father's Day at Lowe's. We have extra big deals for a very limited time so you can get dad the gift he's been wishing for. Get a free select Craftsman Dewalt or Cobalt battery when you buy a select combo kit. Plus save $90 on a cobalt 24 volt battery, string trimmer and leaf blower combo kit. Now $129. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Ballot through 615 while supplies last selection varies by location. Good morning and welcome to crime house 24. 7. Today we're covering a case that has consumed the country for more than a year. A case that started at a school sports event on a rainy spring afternoon and ended two nights ago in a packed Collin county courtroom with a 19 year old being taken away in handcuffs. This is the story of Austin Metcalfe, Carmelo Anthony and the question at the center of it all. What happened on April 2, 2025? A murder? Or was it self defense? On June 9, the jury answered that question. Let's go back to where it all began. The spring of 2025. Frisco, Texas, a fast growing affluent suburb about 30 miles north of Dallas. Kirkendall Stadium, a standard issue public school track facility was hosting a Frisco ISD district track meet. Dozens of high school teams had descended on the campus with their gear, their coaches, their tents and their athletes. It was supposed to be a day of competition, of cheering, spring adrenaline. It turned into something no one there will ever forget. Austin Metcalf was 17 years old. He was a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, where he was, by every account, that would emerge over the following year, exactly the kind of kid coaches dream about. He played linebacker on the football team and had earned MVP honors. He competed in track and field. His teachers and teammates described him as a leader, someone who was always protecting us. As one student would later testify at trial, he was also a twin. His identical twin brother, Hunter, was there that day at the track meet. Austin and hunter were both six' one and weighed about 215 pounds. Carmelo Anthony was also 17 years old. He was a student athlete at Centennial High School, another Frisco ISD school. His defense attorney would later describe him as the oldest of four children, an A student and a young man who had been diagnosed with epilepsy. Standing at 58 and weighing around a 130lbs, Anthony was notably smaller than the Metcalf brothers. By all accounts, he was a committed athlete. His teammates had even nominated him for a team captain role. And before April 2, 2025, Austin Metcalfe and Carmelo Anthony had never met. On the day of the meet, storms rolled through the area and the rain delayed competition. So when weather disrupts a track meet, athletes do what they always do. They cluster under their team's tent and wait it out. This is where tent culture comes. And this detail matters enormously to what happened next. In high school track, each school brings its own tent. Athletes from other schools don't go into another team's tent. This isn't a written rule exactly. It's what witnesses at trial would call an unwritten code. Your tent is your space. You don't wander into someone else's. Carmelo Anthony's school, Centennial High School, did not have a tent at this particular meet. So Anthony was, by the accounts of multiple witnesses, moving around the stadium looking for somewhere to shelter during the rain delay. His defense attorney said Anthony recognized someone near the Memorial High School tent and walked over. He ended up in or around Memorial's tent. That was Austin Metcalfe's tent. What happened next is where the two sides of this case diverge sharply. But even here, certain things are agreed upon by virtually everyone who testified. Anthony was in or around Memorial's tent. Students noticed him and started asking him to leave. They told him he didn't belong There. He wasn't from their school. He wasn't welcome. The atmosphere grew tense. According to prosecutors, Anthony didn't just refuse to leave. He began to taunt and provoke the students around him. Several witnesses testified that he said things along the lines of move me and make me. When students told him to go, some testified he invited Metcalf to hit him. According to police reports, at some point, Metcalf approached Anthony and told him to move from under their team's tent. What happened next, according to those same reports, is that Anthony grabbed his bag, reached inside it and told Metcalfe, quote, touch me and see what happens, end quote. Metcalf grabbed Anthony, apparently to usher him out, and witnesses and surveillance footage would later confirm this. Anthony then pulled out a pocket knife from his bag and stabbed Austin Metcalfe once in the chest. The blade pierced Metcalf's heart. The county's chief medical examiner would later testify that the wound was, quote, not survivable, end quote. Metcalf collapsed. First responders rushed to the scene, but Austin Metcalfe died shortly after they arrived. As for Carmelo Anthony, he didn't run far. Surveillance cameras captured him sprinting out of the stadium less than a minute after the stabbing. He was quickly chased down near the edge of the stadium grounds, and video showed him putting his hands in the air before two uniformed officers handcuffed him. He surrendered. Between diets, workouts and endless advice, it's hard to know what actually works for weight loss. That's why hers offers access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications that now includes the Wegovy pill and the WeGovy pen. WeGovy is designed to help you lose weight and keep it off. Everything is 100% online. Through hers, you'll connect with a licensed provider to determine if treatment is right for you and if prescribed, your medications delivered directly to your door with no insurance necessary, you'll get a treatment plan personalized to you, unlimited dosage changes as needed, and access to 24.7 messaging with your care team. It's simple, affordable, and designed specifically for you. Ready to reach your goals? Visit fourhers.com crimehouse to get personalized affordable care that gets you. That's F O R H E-R-S.com crimehouse forhers.com Crimehouse weight loss by hers is not available in all 50 states. WeGovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk as to get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy clinical study information and restrictions, visit forhers.com such an ordinary thing to walk home from high school. Her name was Mickey Costanzo. Just 16. She didn't have far to go. Seemed perfectly safe. Until it wasn't. What happened to Mickey? I'm Keith Morrison and this is five miles from home, an all new podcast from dateline. Search five miles from home to start listening now. Officers testified at trial that when they reached him, he was crying hysterically. He asked whether Austin would survive and he asked whether this could be considered self defense. His first words to a school resource officer captured on body cam and later played at trial were he put his hands on me. I told him not to. Anthony was arrested the same day and charged with murder. And almost immediately, the story became something larger. A national debate about race, self defense and justice that took on a life of its own. Long before the trial began, supporters rallied around Carmelo Anthony. His family launched a give send go fundraiser called the help Carmelo official fund. Within weeks, it had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. By the time the trial concluded, it had raised more than $625,000. Supporters pointed to Anthony's lack of a prior criminal history, argued that he had been physically provoked, and contended that the media was engaged in a campaign to destroy his reputation. His family described the narrative being spread as false, unjust and harmful. End quote. Carmelo's father, Drew Anthony, also spoke publicly about his son's academic and athletic record, emphasizing that Carmelo was an honor student before the stabbing. Meanwhile, a gofundme was launched for Austin Metcalf's family. That campaign raised just under $600,000. Two competing fundraisers approaching the same dollar figure from two families on opposite sides of the same tragedy. It was a kind of mirror image of a deeply divided public. The reaction online was intense and at times deeply ugly. Protesters gathered outside the Collin county courthouse as the trial approached. Some of those protesters expressed support for Anthony. Others were there in support of the Metcalf family. Members of the new black panther party were photographed outside the courthouse. Far right influencer Jake Lang, who had previously been charged with attacking police at the U. S. Capitol, was reportedly involved in organizing at least one protest outside the courthouse in Frisco. Tensions between the two families had already spilled into public view even before the trial began in April 2025, Carmelo Anthony's family held a news conference and Austin Metcalf's father, Jeff Metcalf, arrived unexpectedly. He was escorted out by police. It was a raw, painful moment that foreshadowed just how volatile the public dimension of this case would become. Both families were targeted with Harassment that went far beyond online criticism. The Metcalf family was with swatting calls. Those are fake emergency calls designed to send armed law enforcement to someone's home. That happened at least six times. According to Jeff Metcalf, Austin's mother was targeted with swatting calls twice. Both families said their personal information had been posted publicly online. Both fathers reportedly had to take leave from their jobs due to the pressure. This was a family that had lost a child navigating a gauntlet of harassment every single day while waiting for a trial. The because of the intense public attention and the volume of threats, Judge John Roach Jr. Took the unusual step of banning all cameras, audio recording and photography from inside the courtroom. Reporters inside the courthouse could only share written notes. Nearly 600 prospective jurors were summoned for jury selection. That's an extraordinary number that underscores how difficult it was expected to be to seat a fair panel in such a high profile case. No black jurors were seated. That's a detail that was widely reported and noted by observers outside the courthouse. Jury selection started on June 1, 2026. The jury was seated on June 3. Opening statements were delivered on June 4, and from there the trial moved through testimony, closing arguments, and ultimately a verdict, all within the span of about a week. In his opening statement, lead defense attorney Mike Howard acknowledged from the start that there was a lot of noise around this case. Noise he said, had taken attention away from who car melo Anthony actually was. He described Anthony as a son, a brother and a great student. He walked the jury through Anthony's path to the memorial tent that day. How he had walked around to get out of the rain, recognized someone near the tent and ended up inside. And then Howard put a number in front of the jury that he clearly wanted them to hold on to. The size difference. Anthony at 5, 8 and £130. The Metcalf brothers at 6' 1 and £215 up. Peace. Howard told jurors that Austin and Hunter Metcalf both confronted Anthony and that Anthony acted out of fear. A split second reaction in a chaotic, crowded space after a much larger person put hands on him. Prosecutors called 21 witnesses before resting their case. The state's argument rested on a straightforward theory. Carmelo Anthony showed up where he wasn't wanted, refused to leave, provoked a confrontation. And when Austin Metcalfe physically responded to that provocation, Anthony chose to reach for a knife rather than simply walk away, which he easily could have done at any point before the stabbing. Lead prosecutor Bill Worsky was blunt about it. During closing arguments, he told the jury, quote, this is not self defense, folks. It's murder, end quote. He described the stabbing as a sneak attack and called it murder, plain and simple. He pushed back on self defense, framing with a line that captured the prosecution's theory precisely. He said, quote, you do not get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the shove, end quote. He also pointed out with some emphasis that it was strange for a teenager to bring a pocket knife to a school track meet in the first place. Deadly force, he reminded the jury, has to be immediately necessary under Texas law to be legally justified. The state's first witness was Mark Porter, a video analyst for the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office who had enhanced the surveillance footage from the stadium. Jurors watched that footage frame by frame. A wide shot of the stadium showing Austin and Hunter Metcalf walking in, showing activity under the yellow Memorial High tent. And then at the 10am timestamp showing a sudden scattering of students from the back of the tent. The video then showed Anthony running out of the stadium in under a minute. And it was grainy, but it was there. It showed the confrontation, it showed Metcalf making physical contact before the stabbing, and it showed the aftermath. Among the most powerful testimony in the state's case came from Collin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Ventura, who described the wound in clinical terms that were difficult to listen to. A large gaping injury that pierced Metcalfe's heart directly. Students who'd been at the track meet testified as well. Memorial High School student Eddie Parra testified that Anthony was inside the tent area before the confrontation and later described with visible emotion seeing blood and the wound in Metcalf's chest. Another student told the jury he did not believe the stabbing constituted self defense. He characterized it as lethal force against non lethal force. Multiple witnesses said they heard Anthony make provocative comments before any physical contact occurred. One student testified that Metcalf had tried to de escalate the situation even as tensions rose, saying to Anthony at some point, quote, I'm not going to fight you at a track meet, end quote. The defense pushed back across all of these points. Attorney Howard argued that the prosecution's version of events collapsed Anthony's actual experience into something too neat. A 17 year old weighing 130 pounds, surrounded by. Surrounded by students who were demanding he leave. Confronted by two much larger young men, one of whom grabbed him, Howard said Anthony made a terrifying split second decision. In a moment that offered no good options, the defense called several witnesses of its own. Centennial High School track coach Adam Linwood took the stand and testified that it was actually common for athletes to socialize in other schools tents during track meets, a direct challenge to the framing of Anthony's presence in the memorial tent as automatically a aggressive or threatening. However, on cross examination, Linwood also acknowledged that there was no reason for an athlete to have a knife at a track meet, a concession that handed prosecutors a useful moment in front of the jury. One of Anthony's former teammates testified that Anthony was distraught after the stabbing and that he heard Anthony repeating, quote, I told him not to touch me, end quote. Defense witnesses also included some students who described seeing someone pushed or punched in the moments before the stabb, supporting the claim that physical contact preceded Anthony's action. On cross examination. However, at least one of those witnesses acknowledged having a limited view and that some of their recollections didn't fully align with the video evidence. Notably, Carmelo Anthony did not take the stand in his own defense. The defense rested on June 8, 2026, without calling him as a witness. It was a strategic decision and entirely within his legal rights. But it meant the jury never heard direct from Anthony himself about what he was thinking in those seconds under the tent. The physical evidence was also presented to jurors. The pocket knife prosecutors said was used in the stabbing photographs of the weapon and Anthony's backpack and crime scene photos. Prosecutors demonstrated for the jury exactly how quickly that knife could be opened. The speed at which it could be deployed, they argued, was relevant to how premeditated this was. Judge Roach allowed the jury to also consider a lesser charge of manslaughter alongside the murder charge. The distinction under Texas law is meaningful. Murder requires that the defendant intentionally or knowingly cause a death. Manslaughter is recklessly causing a death. The maximum sentence for manslaughter in Texas is 20 years. The judge also instructed the jury on sudden passion, an emotionally provoked reaction that if found during sentencing, would reduce the classification to a second degree felony and lower the sentencing range to between two and 20 years. Closing arguments were delivered on June 9, 2026. The jury was then sequestered. That's an uncommon step in Collin county that underscored just how high profile this trial had become. And they went to deliberate. They didn't take long. After approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned to the courtroom. The 12 jurors did not look at Carmelo Anthony as they walked in. That detail reported by journalists in the room was telling they had made up their minds. The verdict. Guilty of murder between diets, workouts and endless advice, it's hard to know what actually works for weight loss. That's why hers offers access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications that now includes the Wegovy pill and the WeGovy pen. WeGovy is designed to help you lose weight and keep it off. Everything is 100% online through through hers, you'll connect with a licensed provider to determine if treatment is right for you and if prescribed your medications delivered directly to your door with no insurance necessary. You'll get a treatment plan personalized to you, unlimited dosage changes as needed, and access to 24.7 messaging with your care team. It's simple, affordable and designed specifically for you. Ready to reach your goals? Visit fourhers.com crimehouse to get personalized affordable care that gets you. That's F o r h E-R-S.com crimehouse for hers.com crimehouse Weight loss by hers is not available in all 50 states. Wegovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk as To get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy clinical study information and restrictions, visit forhers.com Outside the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, the crowd that had gathered responded immediately. Some people screamed, some cried. Protesters who'd been supporting Anthony were devastated. The police presence was robust and things remained peaceful despite the raw emotion in the air inside that courtroom, the penalty phase began right away. Because of the speed with which the jury returned, there was no meaningful delay between the verdict and the sentencing proceedings. During the penalty phase, both prosecutors and defense attorneys waived opening statements. The jury considered whether this was a killing committed, quote, in sudden passion, end quote, a finding that would have dramatically reduced Anthony's exposure. They rejected it. Without that finding, Anthony faced the full range, five to 99 years. Because Anthony was a minor at the time of Austin Metcalf's death, the death penalty was off the table entirely under Texas and federal law. After deliberating for roughly another 2 hours and 20 minutes on the sentence, the jury came back again. Their answer? 35 years in prison. Anthony will be eligible for parole after serving half of that sentence, meaning under current law, he could be released when he's roughly 36 years old. Carmelo Anthony, now 19, showed little expression as he was photographed for his new booking photo. He was taken into custody directly from the courtroom before the sentence was formally announced. The Metcalf family addressed the courtroom and this is where the human weight of the case, which had for over a year been filtered through the lens of online Debate and national politics came back down to earth. Hunter Metcalfe, Austin's identical twin brother, walked to the podium. He'd not been permitted in the courtroom during the trial because he was on the witness list. Though he was never called to testify, the rule had kept him out. This was the first time he'd sat inside that courtroom. He looked directly at Carmelo Anthony and asked him to look back. Hunter said, quote, please give me the respect and look at me, end quote. Anthony looked up at him. Hunter told the courtroom he'd spent the past year trying to learn how to forgive. He said he'd been leaning on his faith, trying to understand why his brother had to die. He talked about what Austin was supposed to become, a future uncle to his children, someone who would have been beside him his whole life. He said, quote, you took a son, a brother, a friend, my best friend from this world, end quote. And then quietly, he said, now I want everything taken from you. You took everything from me. I wake up every morning and his door is still shut, end quote. Austin's mother, Megan Metcalf, spoke about the texture of daily grief, the kind that isn't dramatic, just relentless. She described Austin as a mourning kid and a hugger. She said, he always had a way of bringing people together. He was a peacemaker. She talked about going into his empty room, seeing his empty bed, and having to remember again and again that Austin is gone. She told the courtroom that all she has left of him are videos. She said, quote, my son was murdered. He didn't just die, end quote. And then she told Anthony directly, quote, you should feel lucky you got 35 years because I've been given a life sentence without my son, end quote. Her conversations with him now, she said, were one sided. Sitting at his grave. And Jeff Metcalf, Austin's father, was last. He came to that podium carrying more than a year of grief and more than a year of being unable to speak publicly due to a gag order placed on the parties by Judge Roach. His son's memory had been debated, dissected, and in many corners of the Internet, dragged. And he had been legally prevented from saying anything publicly in response to any of it. He pounded the podium with his fist. He said, quote, we were robbed, end quote. And he said that looking directly at Anthony. He told Anthony to look up at him as well. As Anthony kept his head down, Jeff Metcalf said, quote, you can't even look me in the eye right now, but you can stab my son in the heart, end quote. He said, people think grief is Sadness, it is not. It is rage. Pure, unfiltered rage. He spoke about the harassment his family had endured. He said his son's death, quote, didn't just break my heart, it broke my nervous system, end quote. He told Anthony he had failed his parents, himself and society. He described his sons and said flatly, my boys weren't bullies. And then the line that cut through everything that had been said about this case online for the past 14 months, he said, quote, this was never about race. It's about right and wrong, end quote. Looking one more time at the young man who would now spend the next 17 and a half years, at minimum, in a Texas prison, he said, quote, you don't belong in this community, end quote. Anthony's mother and father were also in the courtroom when the victim impact statements were delivered. They were seen doubled over in their chairs, holding each other. His grandmother was standing nearby, wiping tears with a tissue. Whatever you believe about this case, what took place in that Collin county courtroom on Tuesday evening was a room full of people, two families and 12 jurors who had spent days living inside the worst moment of multiple lives. Outside the courthouse after the proceedings concluded, Jeff Metcalf held a press conference, his first opportunity to speak freely since the gag order was lifted. He stood with Hunter and Megan and he said clearly, quote, quote, today justice was served, end quote. Collin county district attorney Greg Willis echoed that sentiment in a statement following the verdict. He said, quote, this verdict sends a clear message. Violence like this won't be tolerated in our Collin county community and we remain committed to protecting our schools and standing with victims and their families, end quote. Frisco ISD released a statement acknowledging the weight of the moment and calling on the community to continue supporting one another. They said, quote, our community has carried the weight of this tragedy for more than a year and our thoughts remain with the impacted families, friends and classmates. We respect the judicial process and will continue to support our students with compassion and care. The reaction online was immediate and predictably split. Grammy winning rapper Cardi B took to X to share her reaction to the verdict and the sentence. She wrote. Wow. Just freaking wow. Disgusting. This is not justice. This is trying to make an example, end quote. She shared additional posts from supporters of Anthony, including messages saying he deserved better and criticizing media coverage of the case. Her post drew millions of views and fierce pushback from people on both sides. Critics argued that the jury had followed the law and the evidence. Supporters of Anthony agreed with her, framing that the sentence was excessive given his age and the circumstances of the confrontation. The reaction to Cardi? B's post became its own news cycle, further evidence of how thoroughly this case had become a national discussion on race, self defense and the experience of young black men in the American legal system. Him what it never stopped being Underneath all of that was a family story. A 17 year old boy who died at a school track meet with a stab wound to his heart. A twin brother who had to sit outside a courtroom for days finally walked in and asked the man convicted of killing his brother to look him in the eye. A mother who talks to her son at his grave. A father who's been swatted six times in his own home. The criminal case against Carmelo Anthony is now closed. He's 19 years old and will be eligible for parole when he's roughly 36, assuming he serves half his sentence. And Austin Metcalfe, born July 31, 2007, will forever be 17. You've been listening to Crime House 24. 7, bringing you breaking crime news. I'm Vanessa Richardson. Stay safe, safe and thanks for listening. Crime House exists because of listeners like you, and if you love serial killers and murderous minds, there's a way to support the show with an even better listener experience. Join Crime House plus and get both parts of every story released on Monday completely ad free. No more waiting for part two. You get the full profile, the full crimes, the full story all at once. Crime House plus members also get ad free and early access to every show across the Crime House lineup, plus at least two bonus episodes every month from Crime House, exclusive to subscribers, extra cases, deep dives and content you won't hear anywhere else. It's the best way to experience the show and the easiest way to support the team behind it. To to join, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds show page. Crime House plus More cases, no waiting zero ads.