“I’M NOT ALLEGED, I DID IT”: The Bodycam Line That Came Back To Haunt Karmelo Anthony After The Jury Rejected Self-Defense…
“I’M NOT ALLEGED, I DID IT”: THE BODYCAM LINE THAT CAME BACK TO HAUNT KARMELO ANTHONY AFTER THE JURY REJECTED SELF-DEFENSE
The words lasted only a few seconds.
But inside the courtroom, they became impossible to ignore.
As jurors watched bodycam footage and listened to testimony in the Frisco track meet stabbing case, one line from Karmelo Anthony’s detention returned to the center of the trial:
“I’m not alleged, I did it.”
According to testimony from Frisco Police Officer Eduardo Cortez, Anthony made the statement after Cortez radioed that he had the “alleged suspect” detained in handcuffs. Anthony then reportedly added: “He put his hands on me. I told him not to.”
That second sentence became critical to the defense.
Anthony’s lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense after a confrontation under a team tent during a rainy high school track meet. They said Austin Metcalf put his hands on Anthony first, and that Anthony feared for his safety in the chaotic moment.
But prosecutors focused on what happened next.
Austin was unarmed.
Anthony had a knife.
And the confrontation ended with Austin, 17, fatally stabbed once in the chest.
The jury ultimately rejected the self-defense claim.
Anthony, now 19, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for Austin’s death. The case had already become one of the most divisive school-violence trials in Texas, with supporters on both sides arguing over race, fear, public pressure, and whether one deadly moment should be viewed as murder or self-defense.
But the bodycam line gave the courtroom something much harder to debate.
Not because it answered every legal question.
Anthony’s defense was never that he did not stab Austin. The defense was that he believed the stabbing was justified.
But the line still mattered because it captured Anthony’s immediate reaction after police detained him — a reaction jurors were allowed to weigh against the rest of the evidence.
“I’m not alleged, I did it.”
To prosecutors, that sounded like direct responsibility.
To the defense, the full context mattered: Anthony also said Austin touched him and later asked whether Austin would be okay.
But for Austin Metcalf’s family, no explanation could soften the outcome.
Their son went to a school track meet.
He never came home.
During sentencing, the courtroom shifted from legal argument to grief. Austin’s family described the life that was taken from them, while Anthony’s mother pleaded for mercy and said her son was remorseful.
The jury chose 35 years.
Now Anthony has filed a notice of appeal, meaning the case will move into another legal phase. His supporters may continue to argue that the self-defense claim deserved more weight. Austin’s supporters may continue to insist the verdict reflected exactly what happened under that tent.
But one line will follow the case into every appeal, every debate, and every retelling:
“I’m not alleged, I did it.”
The trial may be over.
The legal fight may not be.
But the bodycam moment has already become the sentence people cannot stop replaying.
