No Black jurors seated in Texas murder trial over Frisco stabbing

A Collin County jury for Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial was seated without a Black juror, a detail that sharpened concerns about fairness in a case already charged with race after the April 2, 2025 stabbing death of Austin Metcalf at a Frisco ISD track meet. Anthony, who is Black, is accused in the death of Metcalf, who was white, and the reaction to the case has spilled far beyond the courtroom.

Jury selection began June 1 in the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney and ended two days later with 12 jurors and six alternates chosen from an initial pool of roughly 589 prospective jurors. Court coverage said no Black jurors made it onto the final panel, a result that drew immediate criticism from the defense side and from the Next Generation Action Network, which said it was outraged by the makeup of the jury.

Judge John Roach overruled a defense objection that African-American jurors had been excluded because of race. Prosecutors argued the selection process was race-neutral and said the case should not require a diverse panel. They also maintained in court that the trial was not about race, even as the killing has generated intense online debate along racial lines and national attention around who would ultimately decide the case.

Anthony was indicted in June 2025 on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the fatal stabbing at Kuykendall Stadium, where the University Interscholastic League district track-and-field championship was being held. Prosecutors say Anthony provoked the confrontation, while defense attorneys argue he made a split-second self-defense decision during an altercation in the stadium bleachers. If convicted, Anthony faces up to life in prison, and the trial is expected to last about two weeks.

The case has remained emotionally raw for the Metcalf family. Austin Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, accepted a posthumous diploma for him on May 21, 2026, at Memorial High School’s graduation, where the moment drew a standing ovation. Austin Metcalf was remembered by family and local coverage as a student-athlete, honor student and football player at Frisco ISD Memorial High School, while his father, Jeff Metcalf, created a GoFundMe after the killing to help honor his son and cover memorial-related needs. The absence of Black jurors on a racially fraught case has now become part of the larger question facing the trial: whether the verdict can command broad public trust.