Self-Defense or Murder? Karmelo Anthony's Parents Fight Back

When Kala Hayes and Andrew Anthony sat down with Mimi Brown on“The Breakfast Club”Thursday, they weren’t there to accept their son’s fate quietly. Their message was pointed: the jury’s guilty verdict against Karmelo Anthony for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a Texas track meet sends a troubling signal that teenagers don’t have the right to defend themselves when attacked or ganged up on.

The parents painted a starkly different picture than what prosecutors presented. According to Andrew, Karmelo didn’t show up looking for trouble. What the cameras captured wasn’t a kid fleeing the scene in guilt—it was a teenager running toward a teacher for help. That teacher, Andrew insists, even testified that he had to stop another student from jumping on their son. The narrative, in their view, was rigged from the start.

Karmelo now sits behind bars with a 35-year sentence, and his parents aren’t backing down. They’re pursuing an appeal and actively searching for new legal representation, convinced their son didn’t get a fair shot in the courtroom. The case has already sparked broader conversations about race and the justice system—a point magnified by the fact that no Black jurors served on the panel.

The discourse has split along predictable lines. Rep. Jasmine Crockett questioned whether race played a factor in the verdict, and rapper Cardi B has been vocal that something felt off about the whole thing. Even Rep. Randy Fine weighed in, dismissing race as a factor entirely—despite admitting he never watched a single minute of the trial. It’s a stark reminder that high-profile cases about teenagers, self-defense, and divided juries don’t end when the gavel falls. They rumble on in the court of public opinion, where the stakes feel just as real.