A teenager who allegedly confessed to killing a 17-year-old over a dispute at a track meet has made a surprising decision.
Centennial High School senior Karmelo Anthony, also 17, is accused of pulling out a knife during a fight on April 2, and stabbing Frisco ISD’s Memorial High School's Austin Metcalf once in the chest - puncturing his heart in the process.
The incident happened at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, with the altercation arising when Austin approached Anthony - who has been charged with his murder - ordering him and his friends to move as he claimed they were sat in the wrong area of the ground.
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An arrest report stated that Anthony was sitting under Austin's school's pop-up tent to shield from the rain when he was told to move, while a police officer that the perpetrator claimed he pulled out the knife in self-defense.
While being arrested, an officer referred to Anthony as an alleged suspect in the crime, to which he is believed to have responded: "I'm not alleged, I did it."
The report said per NBC Dallas Fort Worth: "Austin grabbed Anthony to tell him to move and Anthony pulled out ... a black knife and stabbed Austin once in the chest."
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Now, the teen accused of 'attacking' the star athlete has made a surprise move ahead of his first court appearance scheduled for today (April 14) by changing his legal representatives.
He was due to be represented by lawyers Billy Clark and Kim T. Cole, but after raising more than $400,000 through a GiveSendGo set up by Anthony's family, Dallas criminal defense attorney Mike Howard will be in his corner.
Next Generation Action Network (NGAN), a non-profit organization supporting the accused, confirmed the change on Facebook.
The group posted: "The family of Karmelo Anthony has officially retained Attorney Mike Howard as lead counsel in Karmelo’s legal defense.
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"We are grateful for the early support from Attorneys Billy Clark and Kim Cole, and we continue working to build a strong legal team for the fight ahead.
"Karmelo deserves what every citizen deserves: fair treatment and full rights under the law. We won’t stop fighting until he gets it."
Karmelo's father Andrew has claimed in an interview with the New York Post: "He was not the aggressor. He was not the one who started it."
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Austin's twin brother Hunter was there at the time, and held his sibling in his arms as he died.
“He was a good kid… He has a good heart, everyone around you knows he’s a great kid. Just one mistake from that dude and [he] just took my brother,” Hunter said in an interview with WFAA.
“He didn’t deserve it. No one deserves a loss from a family like that.”
He continued: “We asked him to move. He started getting aggressive and talking reckless and my brother stepped in and said ‘You need to move’.
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“I tried to whip around as fast as I could but I didn’t see the stab. I looked at my brother and I'm not going to talk about the rest. I tried to help him.”
According to Hunter, Austin had dreams of playing college football as a linebacker. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support his family.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].
Joe Yates