A confrontation at a highschool observe meet in Texas left one teen lifeless and one other going through a homicide cost. And because the investigation into what led as much as the tragic occasion continues, some members of the group are rallying across the 17-year-old suspect.
A Lethal Confrontation Results in a Name of Self-Protection
In response to a put up on X, Frisco, Texas, police say they arrived on the scene on the David Kuykendall Stadium round 10:00 am on April 2. They have been responding to calls of “an altercation between two college students which resulted in a single stabbing the opposite.”
Witnesses instructed police that 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, who’s white, acquired right into a disagreement with 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, who’s Black, after he requested Anthony to take away himself from a tent that was arrange for athletes from Metcalf’s college, PEOPLE reported.
Bystanders stated they heard Anthony telling Metcalf, “Contact me and see what occurs.” When the confrontation acquired bodily, they stated Anthony pulled a knife out of a backpack and stabbed Metcalf within the chest earlier than operating away. Metcalf was pronounced lifeless on arrival on the hospital. Anthony is being held in Collin County Jail on a a million greenback bond and has been charged with first diploma homicide, in accordance with NBC5DFW.
Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Value reported that Anthony instructed police on the scene that he stabbed Metcalf in self-defense. “He put his fingers on me,” {the teenager} stated. “I instructed him to not.”
Making an attempt to Change the Narrative
Whereas Anthony’s household prepares his authorized protection, they need to persuade others that the picture of {the teenager} as a cold-blooded killer is a false narrative. The household has arrange a help fund on the crowdfunding web site GiveSendGo to help his authorized protection.
“The narrative being unfold is fake, unjust, and dangerous. As a household of religion, we’re deeply grateful for your whole help throughout this making an attempt interval. Your prayers and help imply extra to us now greater than ever,” the household wrote on the donation web page.
The fund has raised over $274,000 so far, and donors are leaving phrases of encouragement for the teenager and his household.
“The reality will come to mild. Maintain your head excessive my buddy,” wrote one nameless donor.
Others need the general public to see Anthony as a hero as a 2021 information article posted by a mom claims Anthony saved her baby from drowning in a pool when he was 14 years outdated. Photos of an unverified print article has been making its approach throughout social media. The Root has been unable to substantiate this story.
“Yeah it’s actual this manner‼️ FOREVER STANDING WITH KARMELO trigger my son might have been lifeless and HE SAVE HIM OUT THAT POOL🥺,” the mom wrote in her April 7 Instagram put up.
Moreover, there are those that say this wasn’t Anthony’s first encounter with the Metcalf brothers, who’ve reportedly bullied him previously. One individual’s Fb put up says he is aware of the sort of house Anthony was raised in.
“Karmelo comes from a house full of love—surrounded by a wonderful, various household of all colours, and backgrounds. Race has by no means been a think about his coronary heart, as a result of love is what raised him,” Kevin Hayes wrote on Fb. “When individuals who have by no means met him—who don’t know his coronary heart, his story, his spirit—attempt to tear him down, it reveals simply how damaged this world may be. It reveals how fast society is to guage, to stereotype, to villainize—particularly on the subject of our youth.”
In the meantime, the Frisco Police Division is warning the group to not belief every thing they learn on-line.
“Solely official releases from verified accounts must be trusted,” a FPD spokesperson wrote in an April put up on X. “Don’t contribute to the misinformation by spreading unconfirmed data.”