A 12-person jury with no Black jurors was seated Wednesday in the murder trial of Karmelo Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf during a Frisco track meet in April 2025. Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday in Collin County.
Judge John Roach Jr. oversaw jury selection and excused the first 150 jurors after meeting with attorneys, then watched as the final panel was chosen without a Black juror. The outcome lands at the center of a case that has drawn national attention, online campaigns and public demonstrations, with supporters of both Metcalf and Anthony gathered outside the courthouse on June 1, 2026.
The defense challenged the prosecution’s use of peremptory strikes, arguing that three Black female potential jurors were removed for racial reasons because they were similarly situated to a White female juror who was not struck. Prosecutors said the women were struck for a non-racial reason: they were educators. Roach sided with prosecutors and agreed to strike the three women, leaving one educator on the jury — an esthetician who teaches at a trade school in Dallas.
Batson challenges can loom large in later appeals because they force a court to weigh whether a strike was truly race-neutral or whether it masked discrimination. Anna Offit, a legal analyst, has said that once such concerns are raised, the party challenging the strike must prove purposeful discrimination, while prosecutors often can point to multiple race-neutral explanations for the same decision. In this case, the judge accepted the prosecution’s explanation, but the defense has already staked out an issue that could resurface if the verdict is challenged later.
Anthony, who was 17 at the time of the stabbing, has been at the center of a case that police say began with an argument over seating in the stands before Metcalf was stabbed in the chest with a pocketknife. With the jury now set and no Black jurors seated, the trial moves into its next phase Thursday — and the jury makeup may prove as consequential as the evidence presented in court.
