A SPLIT-SECOND CONFRONTATION TURNED INTO A TRAGEDY — And The Questions Haven’t Stopped Since
Karmelo Anthony used small $13 Walmart blade that flicks open with single motion to fatally stab Austin Metcalf in chest
A $13 Walmart camping knife branded “ideal” for hunters and travelers was the weapon used to kill teen athlete Austin Metcalf, prosecutors revealed after trial.
The blade was part of a 6-in-1 Ozark Trail multi-tool sold by the retail giant with a flashlight and glᴀss breaker.
Karmelo Anthony carried it at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas, where the 17-year-old football player was fatally stabbed in April 2025.
The knife had a 3.5-inch serrated blade, the Collin County District Attorney’s Office revealed.
Walmart’s listing describes the Ozark Trail tool as “ideal for someone who hunts, camps or who travels often.”
The cheap blade was enough to leave Austin, a 200-pound football player, with a two-inch gash in his chest.
His heart was pierced in the attack.
Austin was unconscious by the time first responders reached him.
The stabbing happened at Memorial High School after Austin and his brother confronted Anthony for sitting in their team’s tent.
They told Anthony to leave, but he repeatedly refused.
Anthony then dared Austin to “touch me and find out.”
Austin shoved him moments before Anthony pulled out the knife and stabbed him.
Austin died in his twin brother’s arms after suffering the single stab wound to his chest.
The blade was legal to carry in Texas because of its size.
But it was not allowed on the school grounds where the stabbing happened.
Anthony fled the scene after the attack and discarded the weapon.
Frisco Police Department school resource officer Jacob Shalz later found the knife halfway open.
Shalz testified that the half-open position could explain why Anthony had a cut on his finger when he was arrested.
The officer also showed jurors how quickly the knife could be opened.
He demonstrated that it could be flicked open in a single motion.
Prosecutors said that detail helped show how fast the fatal stabbing could have happened.
Anthony, who was 17 at the time of the killing, argued at trial that he acted in self-defense.
A jury rejected that claim and convicted him of first-degree murder on Tuesday.
He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for Austin’s killing.
Anthony’s defense team has already filed a notice of appeal in Texas less than 24 hours after the verdict, according to court records obtained by TMZ.
The appeal comes as Anthony’s family is set to receive more than $635,000 through an online fundraiser launched after the fatal stabbing
