First Impression Fight: The opening hearing in Karmelo Anthony’s case turned tense as both sides battled to control the courtroom narrative

Jurors in the Karmelo Anthony murder trial heard a frantic 911 call, watched surveillance footage and listened to emotional testimony Thursday from coaches and trainers who tried to save Austin Metcalf after the Texas teenager was stabbed at a high school track meet.

Anthony, 19, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the April 2025 stabbing death of Metcalf and maintains he acted in self-defense. The case has drawn national attention and intense public scrutiny since the fatal encounter.

Texas defense attorney and legal analyst Jeremy Rosenthal told Fox News Digital that the first day of testimony highlighted the central battle jurors will have to resolve — whether Anthony’s actions were criminal or legally justified as self-defense.

“The defense is accepting part of the burden here because if they want the jury instructed on self-defense, they have to prove up that split-second statement,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal also noted that opening statements can have an outsized impact on jurors.

“Eighty percent of jurors make up their mind at opening statement and they never change it,” he said, citing trial advocacy studies.

Controversy has engulfed the case, and tensions rose after a jury was selected on Wednesday with no Black jurors.

On Thursday, supporters of both Anthony and Metcalf sparring in a shouting match outside the courthouse, holding signs, yelling profanities and antagonizing each other.

Collin County prosecutor Bill Wirskyke called the stabbing a “provoked unjustified murder” and told jurors, “This case has nothing to do with race. This case is not self-defense.”

Defense attorney Mike Howard argued Anthony reacted in a “split second of fear and chaos” and urged jurors to focus on the evidence rather than the public narrative that has developed around the case.

Defense attorney Mike Howard delivers opening statements during Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial in a courtroom sketch from the Collin County courthouse.

Jurors viewed surveillance footage from multiple cameras around Kuykendall Stadium and later listened to a 911 call placed in the moments after the stabbing.

The caller reported that CPR was underway and that an athlete had been stabbed and was losing consciousness.

Nbc 5 reported that voices in the background could be heard urging Metcalf to keep fighting, while another person said, “There’s a lot of blood. He’s not breathing.”

The outlet reported that Metcalf’s final gasp for air could be heard on the recording.

As the call played, Metcalf’s family could be heard crying. Anthony had his eyes closed during most of the 7-minute call.

Rosenthal said the surveillance footage could become one of the most important pieces of evidence presented during the trial.

“In the 21st century, I think jurors really expect there to be some type of video evidence, either surveillance or cell phone,” he said.

“You’ve got a bunch of teenagers and nobody seems to have any cellphone video of this, which is in some ways surprising,” he added. “A picture’s worth a thousand words.”

Memorial High School athletic trainer Tiffany Whiteaker testified that she rushed to help Metcalf and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

She said she saw a commotion and heard screaming in the stands, and a student ran up to her saying, “he stabbed him and threw the knife in the stands,” pointing at Anthony.

Whitaker testified that she got in front of Anthony, put her hands up and told coach Vincent Hooper to not let him leave.

She said she performed CPR and used an AED until paramedics arrived and Metcalf was taken to hospital, where he later died.

The state later called Joshua Rebmann, an Army veteran and football coach who was among the first adults to reach Metcalf.

Rebmann used his military training to try to save the teen before concluding he would not survive.

“Stay with me, Austin. Stay with me, Austin,” he was heard saying in the background of the 911 call, FOX 4 reported. “Come on, Austin. Come on, Austin.”

 

Jurors were shown the blood-stained jacket Rebmann used while trying to stop the bleeding.

Heritage High School coach Vincent Hooper testified that Anthony told him, “He put his hands on me. I stabbed him.”

Hooper also testified that Anthony became emotional after he warned him that if Metcalf died, he would have changed his life forever.

“Well you know if he dies you change your life for the rest of your life,” Hooper said he told Anthony.

“He won’t die,” Anthony replied, according to Hooper.

Memorial High School track coach Robert Starr became emotional while describing finding Metcalf wounded.

“You just don’t go into someone else’s tent uninvited,” Starr testified, referring to team tents at track meets.

As testimony resumes Friday, Rosenthal said one of the key questions will be whether witnesses closest to the confrontation tell a consistent story.

“I sort of view this case like a rock thrown into a pond,” Rosenthal said. “You’ve got the epicenter, and then you’ve got all the ripples out.”

“What’s going to be interesting is, what’s the one person who gets up there and goes against the grain and says something that nobody else has said?” he added.

Additional witnesses are expected to testify Friday as prosecutors continue building their case and jurors continue weighing Anthony’s self-defense claim.