# White teen fatally stabbed by black teen at track meet; racists come out of the woodwork **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 3, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593 "2025-04-03T23:37:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/161 "2025-06-25T06:22:40Z")
Any update on the sex offender rumor? Or are we just spreading malicious bullshit without any evidence? ETA: The Minnesota Registry gives nothing for Sharmake Omar, the man who recorded the racist piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/162 "2025-06-26T02:19:41Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > (First degree murder) doesn’t exist in Texas. It’s bad reporting. > > I was curious why so many news reports were giving this erroneous info and then I figured it out. It’s because of a statement from the victim’s family. The press is just regurgitating it uncritically, regardless of what the actual indictment is. You might want to tell the Collin County D.A. that he got it wrong. 🤔 > **[DA Greg Willis Announces First-Degree Murder Indictment in Frisco Track Meet ...](https://collincountyda.com/da-greg-willis-announces-first-degree-murder-indictment-in-frisco-track-meet-stabbing-death-of-austin-metcalf-karmelo-anthony-charged/)** Some law firms apparently need to brush up on their knowledge as well. > **[The Texas Murder Law | Penal Code §19.02](https://saputo.law/criminal-law/texas/murder/)** > > \[Updated for 2023\] This article provides in-depth legal analysis of the Texas Murder law in Penal Code §19.02. Learn more here. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/163 "2025-06-26T02:29:31Z")
Is anyone really surprised at Texas charging a black person for a crime that isn’t on the books? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/164 "2025-06-26T02:44:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is anyone really surprised at Texas charging a black person for a crime that isn’t on the books? In that case it would be easy for the defense to get the charge dismissed. But: Section 19.02 of the Texas Penal Code states that: > [@](#): > > (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is _a felony of the first degree_ (italics added). > > (d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may raise the issue as to whether he caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the offense is a felony of the second degree. > **[PENAL CODE CHAPTER 19. CRIMINAL HOMICIDE](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm#19.02)** So that apparently explains the _first degree_ murder charge. Seems as if the defense could make a good case for part (d). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/165 "2025-06-26T04:43:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > You might want to tell the Collin County D.A. that he got it wrong. 🤔 I’m pretty sure that’s political rhetoric from a DA, and not the indictment of record. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > So that apparently explains the _first degree_ murder charge. Interestingly enough, from the DA’s own page linked before: > Murder is a first-degree felony offense that, upon conviction, carries a punishment range of 5 to 99 years, or life, in a Texas prison, and an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. By that reasoning, **all** murder is first-degree murder in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/166 "2025-06-26T08:19:27Z")
I have a theory as to the language the DA is using, and I think this is the point you were making @Jackmannii. Texas doesn’t officially have different degrees of murder. There are four types of criminal homicide as per the Texas Penal Code; Capital Murder, Murder, Manslaughter, and Criminally Negligent Homicide. Murder is a charge on its own and doesn’t have different degrees, and that is what Anthony was charged with. At the _sentencing phase_, however, there is a chance for the murder to be treated as a second-degree felony which brings a lesser penalty. Murder is by default a first-degree felony, but if it is established that it was done in a fit of rage (or some other “fit of passion” kind of mitigating circumstance) then it can be downgraded. That is not something decided at this stage of a case, so it’s just murder. I believe the DA is stating a belief that the circumstances will not warrant a downgrade, and so is using the term “first-degree murder” as a shorthand, even though that’s technically not a legal term in that jurisdiction and it’s only an assumption on the DA’s part. And it’s not true that this was the nature of the indictment, I still believe that’s just political rhetoric as I previously suggested. (IANAL, let alone a Texas one, but this seems consistent with all the info I’ve found available on the subject.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/167 "2025-06-26T11:47:31Z")
To clarify (I hope) what everyone is almost saying in plain English, felonies _in general_ come in degrees of severity. Not that there is e.g. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree burglary, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree robbery, etc. But rather that (made up examples) homicide, mayhem, and kidnapping are 1st degree felonies, robbery, assault, and rape are 2nd degree felonies, and all other felonies are third degree. Murder has a special feature that in can be downgraded from degree 1 to degree 2 under circumstances already explained. Other than that exception, all homicides are first degree felonies. But are not “murder in the first degree” as we know from TV (IOW, the _California_ penal code). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/168 "2025-06-26T12:34:48Z")
For what it’s worth, a more appropriate charge in my opinion would have been manslaughter. Maybe that’s what it will ultimately be bargained down to. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/169 "2025-06-26T13:14:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > In that case it would be easy for the defense to get the charge dismissed. It would, in a place under the rule of law. It would also, in a place under the rule of law, be easy to appeal on grounds of inadequate counsel, where the defense attorney slept through the case. Or where the defendant clearly stated a desire for a lawyer, and was not provided one. Or to get a defendant who hadn’t even been tried yet off of Death Row. Or to appeal a case where the judge told the jury that the defense had to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. OK, only one of those cases was Texas, one was Louisiana, and two were Alabama, but none of those states operates under the rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/170 "2025-06-27T09:55:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > case where the judge told the jury that the defense had to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt Not to hijack…but I’m curious about this case. Could you point us toward a summary? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/171 "2025-06-27T11:35:00Z")
I’ve returned the book to the library, but it’s one of the cases mentioned in Just Mercy, by Brian Stevenson. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/172 "2025-06-30T15:06:32Z")
so a lone Black man surrounded by bunch of angry Whites shouldn’t feel “trapped”? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/173 "2025-06-30T15:45:13Z")
Not when those whites are asking him to **leave**. What a stupid question. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/174 "2025-06-30T15:57:57Z")
no possibility of lynching of course, not in south ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/175 "2025-06-30T16:03:32Z")
Under those circumstances, no. You can’t lynch someone who leaves, and they were trying to get him to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/176 "2025-06-30T16:11:57Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You can’t lynch someone who leaves, and they were trying to get him to leave. And angry mobs are well known for following a logical set of steps to achieving their goals with the least amount of conflict necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/177 "2025-06-30T16:13:53Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > And angry mobs are well known for following a logical set of steps to achieving their goals with the least amount of conflict necessary. None of the reports I’ve seen described an “angry mob”. A few teenagers yelling at a guy to leave because they think he’s in the wrong spot is not an “angry mob”. These hypothetical scenarios are completely irrelevant to this case. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/178 "2025-06-30T22:53:12Z")
Yelling, shoving, punching, all completely nonviolent things that don’t involve conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/179 "2025-06-30T23:20:58Z")
An “angry mob” did all of those things? Where is your cite for that? None of the articles I’ve read suggest that. One person put hands on the suspect, and that’s the person who ultimately got stabbed. These made-up scenarios all sound bad, but none of them are anywhere near what has been reported. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593/180 "2025-06-30T23:43:15Z")
Nor do they contradict what’s been reported. There’s a lot we don’t know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-teen-fatally-stabbed-by-black-teen-at-track-meet-racists-come-out-of-the-woodwork/1016593.md?page=10)