Potential jurors in the Karmelo Anthony trial said they couldn’t imagine giving him life in prison or “putting a brother in jail” — despite the heinous murder he is charged with.

Prosecutors in Collin County, Texas, grilled candidates Monday on whether they would use Anthony’s age, race, or likeness to their own children when deciding whether he killed fellow teen Austin Metcalf in cold blood.

Attorneys for the 18-year-old defendant will try to convince the jury he feared for his life when he pulled a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the heart at a track meet in April 2025.

“He looks like a child,” several said in questioning relayed by WFAA, when asked if they could consider a life sentence for the teen, who has been charged with first-degree murder.

“I don’t think I can make a decision about somebody so young. One mistake, one argument, one conflict, you can’t say he’s a bad person,” one potential juror told Assistant District Attorney Dewey Mitchell.

Dewey had to remind panelists that nobody would get “in trouble” for revealing their feelings about the hot-button case, which the Anthony family, who are black, claimed is a product of “white supremacy.”

Mitchell asked panelists how they feel about this statement: “I don’t feel comfortable finding an African American male guilty of murder.”

“I don’t know if I feel right putting a brother in jail,” one candidate stated, according to WFAA.

Lawyers began questioning the final pool of 250 candidates Wednesday and plan to have a final selection by Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, a $600,000 grassroots fund for Anthony’s legal fees continues to swell with new donations.

Many grassroots sympathizers see Metcalf as a white bully targeting a black victim when he tried to shove Anthony, then 17, from under a pop-up tent during a rain delay at the track meet in Frisco.

The fundraising could help Anthony pay for expert witnesses to bolster his case, veteran defense attorney Randy Zelin told The Post.

But Anthony’s team will be hard-pressed to disprove prosecutors’ argument that he goaded the unarmed Metcalf into the encounter, ready with his hand on the knife, Zelin added.

The trial of former Texas high school athlete Karmelo Anthony is set to begin Thursday, more than a year after a deadly confrontation at a track meet left 17-year-old Austin Metcalf dead and sent shockwaves through a close-knit Dallas-area community.

Anthony, now 19, is charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of Metcalf during a rainy April 2025 track meet in Frisco, one of the fastest-growing suburbs in North Texas. If convicted, he could face a life sentence.

The case has drawn intense public attention, fueled by heated social media debate and widespread discussion far beyond Texas. Yet at its core, prosecutors say, the tragedy centers on a split-second encounter between two teenagers that changed multiple families forever.

A jury was selected this week under heightened security at the Collin County courthouse. The judge overseeing the case has imposed strict rules, including a ban on attorneys publicly discussing the proceedings.

“This case has struck a deep nerve — here in Collin County and beyond,” District Attorney Greg Willis previously said when announcing Anthony’s indictment.

According to police, the confrontation began when Anthony sat beneath a tent designated for Austin Metcalf’s team. The two teenagers attended different Frisco high schools and were competing at the same event.

Witnesses told investigators that Metcalf approached Anthony and asked him to move. According to the arrest report, Anthony allegedly responded by reaching into his bag and saying, “Touch me and see what happens.”

Police say the confrontation escalated moments later when Metcalf allegedly grabbed Anthony. Investigators say Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf once in the chest.

Officers reported that Anthony immediately claimed he acted in self-defense, telling police that Metcalf had put his hands on him and that he was protecting himself.

Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, has maintained that self-defense will be central to the case, arguing that prosecutors will struggle to eliminate reasonable doubt once all the facts are presented to jurors.

The tragedy devastated both families.

Relatives on both sides have described the teenagers as promising students with college aspirations and bright futures.

In the months following the stabbing, the case became the subject of fierce online arguments, with some attempting to frame it through the lens of race. Anthony is Black, while Metcalf was white.

Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf, has repeatedly pushed back against those efforts.

“This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing,” he said. “This is a human being thing.”

He added that one decision on a rainy morning forever altered the lives of both families.

“This person made a bad choice and it affected both his family and my family forever,” Metcalf said.

Authorities have also warned the public about misinformation spreading online. Frisco Police Chief David Shilson urged people to be cautious of posts designed to spread “misinformation, hate, fear, and division.”

As opening statements begin, jurors will now be tasked with deciding whether the fatal encounter was murder or an act of self-defense — a question that has divided public opinion and kept the spotlight fixed on one of Texas’ most closely watched criminal trials.

A jury has begun its deliberations in the trial of two teenagers accused of murdering a 16-year-old on a beach in North Ayrshire last year.

Jay Stewart, 18, and a 15-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons are accused of killing Kayden Moy, who died after an incident at Irvine beach on May 17.

Another teenager, 18-year-old Cole Turley, has already pleaded guilty to Kayden’s murder.

It is alleged that while acting with Turley, Stewart and the 15-year-old pursued Kayden, causing him to fall to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed him on the body with a knife, leaving him so badly injured that he died.

Giving directions to the jury on Thursday morning, judge Lord Scott told them it was not in dispute that Turley murdered the 16-year-old or that the accused were present on Irvine beach that day.

He told them the “crucial issue” they had to decide was whether the accused were acting in concert with Turley when he carried out the murder.

Giving his closing speech at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday, Donald Findlay KC, representing Stewart, told the jury there is “not a scrap of evidence” his client played any part in Kayden’s death.

“The one thing we know beyond a shadow of doubt is that Jay Stewart did not lay a finger on Kayden Moy,” Mr Findlay said.

“He was not within yards of Kayden Moy when Kayden Moy was stabbed. He had no physical involvement whatsoever in the death of Kayden Moy.”

He added: “He did not go near him, he did not offer any kind of protection or security, there is not a single, solitary scrap of evidence that Jay Stewart played any active part in the death of Kayden Moy.”

The court previously heard Turley, Stewart and the 15-year-old were members of the Murray Boys group while Kayden and others were part of the Himshie group in East Kilbride.

Mr Findlay said there had been confrontations between the groups in the past and there was nothing to suggest that day in May last year would be any different until Turley “upped the ante” and produced a knife.

He said there was a confrontation between the groups at the beach but nobody expected it to go further.

Mr Findlay told the court: “There is shouting, exchanges of abuse, but at that point in time it is no more than that, and that’s as far as it should have gone till one event, and that was Cole Turley produced a knife.

“At that point, the character of this changes, but up till that point in time it is no different from any confrontation they have had previously.”

Mr Findlay also told jurors that, according to forensic evidence, there was “not a nanogram” of evidence to show Stewart ever had the knife in his possession.

Ian Duguid KC, representing the 15-year-old, later pointed jurors to evidence from a witness who had told the trial he heard the 15-year-old saying “take us a box” during the initial confrontation at the beach, as in fist-fighting.

Mr Duguid said of the 15-year-old: “He was not thinking it was going to be a stabbing.

“He was thinking it was going to be a fist-fight, the Murrays against the Himshies, something that was not unknown to any of them.”

The lawyer urged jurors to acquit his client if they believe Kayden’s murder could not have been anticipated by the 15-year-old, who was 14 at the time of the fatal incident.

Mr Duguid continued: “He’s 15, it’s important to him, his whole life is ahead of him.”

Prosecutors earlier withdrew all charges against Stewart and the 15-year-old apart from the murder charge, which they both deny.

They previously lodged special defences of incrimination.

The trial continues before Judge Lord Scott.

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In a courtroom closed to cameras on Thursday, the man police say shot and killed Ramiro Mendoza Jr. in 2023 faced a judge.

Wearing a purple shirt, he walked in smiling and looked at his mother. He is being tried as a juvenile; he was just weeks shy of his 18th birthday when he killed Mendoza.

ShotSpotter picked up 20 rounds, and neighbors initially thought they were fireworks.

“This incident should have never happened,” the prosecutor said in court.

Investigators believe the shooting was targeted, but a motive remains unclear. There was no altercation and no argument. The victim lived in an alley and struggled with addiction.

“It didn’t mean he deserved to die,” the prosecutor said.

In a striking moment, the former minor addressed the court.

“I am deeply sorry for my actions,” he said. “I can’t take back what I did, but I am sorry.”

The judge sentenced him to four years and one month of juvenile rehabilitation. It would have been a life prison sentence if he were convicted in adult court, but the District Attorney’s Office could not find an expert needed for a transfer hearing, in what the prosecutor described as a “gift.”

Late Thursday, the victim’s brother issued a statement to Action News:

“(Ramiro) will be forever missed and in our hearts. My little brother was everything to me and will always be remembered as the loving, caring brother anyone would be proud to have.”

The judge encouraged Mendoza’s family to find support and heal.

“I understand that this court system can be disappointing,” she said.

The victim’s brother said he does not want to hate the former minor, saying he just hates his actions. The former minor has 60 days to appeal.