😱💥 COURTROOM PLEA — “HAVE MERCY ON MY SON” After Karmelo Anthony was convicted of murder, his mother asked the jury for leniency, claiming her son was remorseful. The emotional courtroom moment has sparked strong reactions from the public. 📌 Full story and reactions in comments 👇

‘Have mercy on my son.’ | Karmelo Anthony’s mother pleads to jurors after son found guilty of murder

Karmelo Anthony, 19, has been found guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet.

MCKINNEY, Texas — Karmelo Anthony, 19, has been found guilty of murder in last year’s fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a Frisco ISD track meet.

“Have mercy on my son,” Kala Hayes, Karmelo Anthony’s mother, said to jurors during the punishment phase, which began immediately after the verdict was read.

Hayes is the only witness to take the stand for the defense in the sentencing thus far.

The court is in recess while the jury considers Karmelo Anthony’s punishment. He faces a minimum of five years. The maximum sentence for murder in Texas is 99 years, which amounts to life behind bars.

Anthony, a then student at Frisco Centennial High School, was accused in the April 2, 2025, stabbing death of Metcalf, a student-athlete at Frisco Memorial High School.

Previously, the Collin County District Attorney charged Anthony with murder, requiring the state to prove that Anthony “intentionally and knowingly caused the death” of Austin Metcalf. Over the course of seven days, prosecutors have argued just that, while Anthony’s defense team argued that he acted in self-defense.

While the arguments unfolded, evidence was raised that led Judge Roach on Tuesday to introduce a lesser crime, namely manslaughter. Texas law gives the judge the power to allow the jury to consider multiple guilty or not guilty verdicts. The manslaughter charge carries a punishment of 2-20 years in prison.

In the case of murder, the jury must believe, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the defendant “intentionally or knowingly caused the death of another person,” namely, Austin Metcalf.

If the jury cannot unanimously believe that, against all reasonable doubt, they may consider a manslaughter charge. In the case of manslaughter, the jury must believe, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the defendant “recklessly caused the death of another person.”

Anthony was 17 at the time of the incident, which is considered an adult in Texas. Because the death did not meet the qualifications to be charged as a capital murder, and because of Anthony’s age, the death penalty and life in prison without parole were never an option in the case.

The jury found Anthony guilty of murder after deliberating for a few hours on Tuesday morning and afternoon.

Murder carries a sentence of five to 99 years in prison.