A Texas jury sentenced 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony on Tuesday evening to 35 years in prison for the murder of Austin Metcalf, 17, last April at a high school track meet in which they were competing.
Witnesses testified during the week-long trial north of Dallas that the two teens clashed after Anthony took shelter under Metcalf’s team tent. Anthony pulled a knife and later confessed to law enforcement, although he and his attorney insisted it was self-defense.
The trial became a flash point for white supremacists who fixated on the racial differences of Metcalf, who was White, and Anthony, who is Black. Early on in the case, Metcalf’s father disavowed their involvement.
The jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Anthony guilty Tuesday and returning to deliberate his sentence. He faced up to life in prison but not the death penalty because of his age at the time of the stabbing.
The case came amid escalating racial tensions in Frisco, a city of about 250,000 that has experienced rapid growth in recent years, much of it from South Asia. The diversification has angered right-wing activists who have flocked to city council meetings to share racist and anti-immigrant views that garnered millions of views online. The rhetoric has been exacerbated by the city’s first competitive mayoral election in almost a decade.
One of the activists, Florida-based Jake Lang, appeared recently outside the courthouse, where he called for Anthony to be “lynched.”
The post Texas teenager sentenced to 35 years in prison in murder of high school student appeared first on Washington Post.
