Jurors in the Karmelo Anthony murder trial heard a frantic 911 call, watched surveillance footage and listened to emotional testimony Thursday from coaches and trainers who tried to save Austin Metcalf after the Texas teenager was stabbed at a high school track meet.Anthony, 19, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the April 2025 stabbing death of Metcalf and maintains he acted in self-defense.The case has drawn national attention and intense public scrutiny since the fatal encounter.Texas defense attorney and legal analyst Jeremy Rosenthal told Fox News Digital that the first day of testimony highlighted the central battle jurors will have to resolve — whether Anthony's actions were criminal or legally justified as self-defense."The defense is accepting part of the burden here because if they want the jury instructed on self-defense, they have to prove up that split-second statement," Rosenthal said.KARMELO ANTHONY TRIAL IGNITES RIVAL CAMPS THAT THREATEN TO GET IN JURORS’ HEADS IN TRACK MEET STABBING: EXPERTA split of Karmelo Anthony (left) and Austin Metcalf.
Anthony is accused of stabbing Metcalf to death during an April 2, 2025 track meet in Frisco, Texas.(FOX4; Jeff Metcalf)Rosenthal also noted that opening statements can have an outsized impact on jurors."Eighty percent of jurors make up their mind at opening statement and they never change it," he said, citing trial advocacy studies.Controversy has engulfed the case, and tensions rose after a jury was selected on Wednesday with no Black jurors.Demonstrators show support for Austin Metcalf outside the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, on the first day of jury selection in Karmelo Anthony’s trial on June 1, 2026.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)Demonstrators showed support for Karmelo Anthony outside the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, on the first day of jury selection in his trial on June 1, 2026.(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)On Thursday, supporters of both Anthony and Me...