By now, many of you heard that Karmelo Anthony, the teen convicted in the killing of Austin Metcalf, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
The crime was committed in Frisco in April of last year; an argument about Anthony, a student of Centennial High School in Burleson, was seeking shelter under a tent for Memorial High School of Frisco, where Metcalf was a student, and where the track meet was being held.
Anthony was trying to get out of the rain; Metcalf objected. A knife was produced, Metcalf was stabbed, and it took a jury 3 hours to convict Anthony of murder.
Normally, this would have ended when the judge handed down the sentence. In this day and age, what should have been a trial has become, with all due respect for the seriousness of the crime, a circus.
While the trial was going on, there was a pair of camps being set up — and both pretty much along racial lines. Sadly, since Anthony is Black and Metcalf is white, there was no doubt that would become a factor in both the trial and the subsequent reaction.
That is as immeasurably disheartening as was the crime.
Since we didn’t hear from Anthony (because he didn’t testify), and we can no longer hear from Metcalf, we only guess at the reasons things escalated to the point that murder was the solution.
What we can know, first and foremost is that something as simple as seeking shelter from the storm doesn’t rise to the level of homicide, or frankly any other type of violence. Should Metcalf have let Anthony stay dry? If this is indeed the reason, then yes, common courtesy demands that. Should Anthony have drawn a weapon, or even become antagonistic, over Metcalf’s request? Not even a little.
While the thought processes of the victim and perpetrator are extremely questionable, the reaction, hyperbole and grandstanding surrounding the trial is even more questionable. Calling for Anthony to be freed because of the differences in race between the two is an insult to justice, to Metcalf and his family, and even to Anthony and his family.
Pretending that Anthony was some sort of victim and the act was justified is not a defense, nor an excuse to ignore the taking of a life. We cannot continue to send a message that sociological pressures are an excuse for violence. The Metcalf family lost a son. This is tragic, and all the hysteria surrounding the verdict and sentence is an attempt to paint over the fact that Austin is dead over trivialities.
Justice, as it was designed in this country, is fact-based. While there may be mitigating circumstances, that should only affect the sentence, not erase the fact that the most heinous of crimes was committed. Anthony was accorded all of the rights and privileges that everyone has, and the outcome was based on what the state presented.
It wasn’t justice that saw color or some sort of disenfranchisement. The respective families need to come to grips with this horrid situation, and they need to heal. That starts with understanding that Metcalf and Anthony are responsible for their own actions, and as my father hammered into me, responsible for the consequences.
Justice did what it was supposed to do. Now, we as a society need to do what we should be doing, and correcting the course we are on.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
