(The Lion) — A 17-year-old who stabbed another student during an altercation at a Texas track meet is guilty of murder, a Collin County jury found Tuesday.

Karmelo Anthony, of Frisco, Texas, fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf, 17, in the chest in April 2025 after Metcalf asked him to leave his high school’s tent during a rainstorm. Anthony attended another high school and said he was visiting friends in the other tent.

“Touch me and see what happens,” Anthony told Metcalf before grabbing a knife from his backpack.

The jury deliberated just two hours, agreeing with prosecutors that “You don’t bring a knife to a fist fight.” Anthony’s lawyers had argued he acted in self-defense.

The case attracted national attention in part because Anthony is black and Metcalf is white. Protesters gathered outside the McKinney courthouse, with occasional shouting matches and at least one fight breaking out following the verdict’s announcement. Jeff Metcalf, Metcalf’s father, had asked people not to make the case a racial issue, noting both families are suffering in the aftermath.

Although the jury included several minorities, none of the jurors were black. Attorneys said they excluded several prospective jurors who made comments such as they wouldn’t “feel right putting a brother in jail” and the final three black female candidates because they were schoolteachers.

That could play a role if the defense chooses to appeal.

Anthony faces five to 99 years or life in prison and an optional fine of up to $10,000. The same jury will sit for a separate trial to decide his sentence, Fox News reported, which is expected this week.

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Law&Crime Network)