On Tuesday, a Collin County grand jury indicted Karmelo Anthony on a first-degree homicide cost — a call that may please advocates for the alleged sufferer, 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, however outrage individuals who have questioned for months why it’s so arduous for a Black teen to be taken critically when he claims self-defense.
Anthony, who was 17 when he allegedly stabbed Metcalf to loss of life throughout a observe meet at Kuykendall Stadium, “may face a doable sentence of 5-99 years or life in jail,” CBS Information reported, noting that “within the Texas legal justice system, 17-year-olds are thought-about adults.”
So, what’s subsequent for the now 18-year-old, who has been on home arrest since he was launched on a lowered bond on April 14?
Properly, now that Anthony has formally been indicted, the subsequent step is to assign a trial choose to preside over his case. That choose will then set a courtroom date for the defendant’s first look. That a part of the authorized course of may take days, weeks or months.
Within the meantime, each prosecutors and protection attorneys appear desirous to make their circumstances.
“We all know this case has struck a deep nerve — right here in Collin County and past. That’s comprehensible. When one thing like this occurs at a faculty occasion, it shakes folks to the core,” Collin County District Lawyer Greg Willis mentioned in an announcement. “However the justice system works greatest when it strikes with steadiness and with precept. That’s what we’re dedicated to. And that’s precisely what this case deserves.”
Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf, seems hopeful that the courtroom will give him and his household justice.
“I’m happy that we’re shifting ahead. With the first-degree homicide indictment, it now goes into the courtroom system. I totally imagine that justice might be served for Austin Metcalf. I look ahead to the forthcoming trial. However it can by no means deliver my son again,” he mentioned.
Nevertheless, Karmelo’s legal professional, Mike Howard, seems to be simply as assured that his shopper might be vindicated as soon as he’s allowed to inform his model of the tragic occasion that unfolded on April 2.
“Karmelo and his household are assured within the justice system and the folks of Collin County to be honest and neutral,” Howard mentioned in a recorded video. “After all, Karmelo seems ahead to his day in courtroom, as a result of it’s solely in a trial that the total story might be heard, and that neutral justice might be performed. We anticipate that when the total story is heard, the prosecution won’t be able to rule out the cheap doubt that Carmelo Anthony might have acted in self-defense.”
On April 2, Anthony, a student-athlete at Centennial Excessive Faculty, allegedly stabbed Metcalf throughout a dispute that changed into a bodily altercation below the Memorial Excessive Faculty tent at David Kuykendall Stadium throughout a Frisco ISD district-wide observe meet. A number of witnesses, together with Metcalf’s twin brother Hunter, instructed police that the 2 teenagers didn’t know one another previous to the altercation. Witnesses additionally acknowledged that Metcalf and his teammates confronted Anthony after noticing he was below their crew’s tent sporting a unique faculty’s tracksuit. In accordance with USA TODAY, an arrest affidavit famous {that a} faculty useful resource officer was the primary to reach on the scene, and when he instructed Anthony to place his fingers up, the teenager allegedly replied, “I used to be defending myself!”
SEE ALSO:
Karmelo Anthony Can’t Declare Self-Protection However Kyle Rittenhouse Can?
Karmelo Anthony Will Get His Diploma, However His Authorized Battle Looms