The father of a 17-year-old Texas teen charged with fatally stabbing a star football player at a high school track event says his son “was not the aggressor.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police said Austin Metcalf, 17, died after an altercation at Frisco Independent School District’s Kuykendall Stadium, during a multi-school track and field championship.
Police charged Anthony, a student at Frisco’s Centennial High School, with first-degree murder, after he allegedly stabbed Metcalf in the chest.
Anthony’s father, Andrew Anthony, told The New York Post that his son did not provoke the incident.
“He was not the one who started it,” Andrew Anthony said.“He’s a good kid. He works two jobs. He’s an A student, has a 3.7 GPA.”
A probable cause affidavit obtained by CrimeOnline indicated that witnesses told police the confrontation started when Metcalf asked Anthony to leave a tent set up for Metcalf’s track team.
The affidavit stated that the two had never met before the incident.
Police said Metcalf got into an altercation with Anthony, who sat under a tent designated for Memorial High School students, where Metcalf was a junior.
The affidavit also stated that Anthony reached into his bag upon being told he was sitting in the wrong area.
A witness reported hearing Anthony say, “Touch me and see what happens.”
The witness told police that Metcalf then touched Anthony, who then encouraged Metcalf to punch him. Metcalf reportedly tried to make him move. That’s when Anthony pulled a black knife from his bag and stabbed Metcalf in the chest before fleeing, the witness said.
“I feel bad for the other parents and family, and words can’t explain how both [families] have been affected by this tragedy,” Anthony’s father added.
Anthony later asked police if the incident constituted self-defense and asked if Metcalf was going to be OK.
“I know that my client said it was self-defense. I don’t have any reason to disbelieve that, but I need to develop facts, talk to people and figure out what’s going on before I make any statements about what I think happened,” Anthony’s defense lawyer, Deric Walpole, told NBC 5. “I don’t have any reason to think it wasn’t self-defense at this time.”
Anthony remains behind bars in the Collin County Jail. His next court appeared is scheduled for Monday 10:00 a.m. His lawyers plan to argue for a lowered bond.
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Austin Metcalf/Memorial High School]
