Key Takeaways
- Cardi B publicly criticized Karmelo Anthony’s 35-year prison sentence following his murder conviction in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf.
- The verdict prompted debate online, with some questioning the jury’s makeup and others discussing whether manslaughter should have applied.
- Social media users also compared Anthony’s conviction to the not-guilty verdict of Chikei Rick Chow in a separate fatal shooting case.
Cardi B and several others are speaking out after Karmelo Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf. On Tuesday (June 9), a Collin County, Texas jury found the 19-year-old guilty of murder after 2 ½ hours of deliberation.
According to CNN, the jury rejected Anthony’s self-defense claims stemming from a confrontation at a track meet last year, where he allegedly refused to leave a team tent area. Metcalf, who was 17 at the time, was fatally stabbed during the encounter. Several students testified during the trial, and while Anthony didn’t take the stand, his mother, Kayla Hayes, did. “He's very sorry for what he did,” she answered when asked by the defense whether her son had any regrets about the incident.
News of the verdict was met with some saying justice had been served, while many others questioned whether the outcome would’ve been different if Anthony weren’t a Black man, if there had been any Black jurors, or if he had taken the stand.
Reactions pour in after Karmelo Anthony is sentenced to 35 years
Cardi, who is no stranger to using her platform to raise awareness, wrote on X, “Wow! Just freakin' wow! DISGUSTING… This is not justice; this is trying to make an example!!!” Shortly after, she reposted a tweet about Anthony saving someone’s drowning son, along with another post saying that he and Cyrus Carmack-Belton “deserve better.”
Another social media user argued that Anthony “should’ve got manslaughter,” a charge that typically carries a lesser sentence. “That was a heat-of-the-moment thing. Not a premeditated murder,” they penned on the platform. Meanwhile, Rev. Ray Cistman said, “If you’re celebrating the Karmelo Anthony guilty verdict, you better not even think about celebrating Juneteenth.”
Social media compares Karmelo Anthony’s sentence to Rick Chow’s not-guilty verdict
Anthony’s verdict also prompted comparisons to the recent not-guilty verdict of Chikei Rick Chow. The convenience store owner was accused of fatally shooting Carmack-Belton in 2023 after allegedly suspecting the 14-year-old of stealing four bottles of water. Prosecutors argued that Carmack-Belton was running away when he was shot in the back, meaning he did not pose a threat. That being said, Chow and Anthony’s cases ended very differently.
“Shooting a kid in the back is labeled self-defense, but stabbing a kid for putting his hands on you isn’t,” someone tweeted. Another stated that the two different outcomes “should tell you everything you need to know about what our priorities should be in these United States.”
The lack of Black jurors in Karmelo Anthony’s trial fuels more criticism
Another major point of discussion in the aftermath of Anthony’s conviction was the fact that there were no Black jurors. “No Black people on the jury means Karmelo wasn’t judged by a jury of his peers,” one user claimed. It’s worth mentioning that the panel consisted of both men and women, reportedly including three Asian women, a Hispanic man, and one Middle Eastern woman.