In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m covering the heartbreaking case of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a high school student whose life was tragically cut short during what should have been an ordinary day at a track meet. In April 2025, a confrontation between two young men at a Frisco, Texas, athletic event ended in an act of violence that shocked a community and made headlines across the country. What began as a disagreement escalated in a matter of moments, leaving one family grieving the loss of a son, brother, friend, and teammate. As a forensic death investigator, I walk through the known timeline of events, the investigation that followed, and the legal proceedings involving Karmelo Anthony. I also discuss the difficult realities surrounding youth violence, split-second decisions, and the devastating consequences that can follow. But as with every case I cover, I want to keep the focus where it belongs. On Austin. On the life he lived, the people who loved him, and the future that was taken from him far too soon. This episode is approached with compassion and respect for everyone affected by this tragedy. Beyond the headlines, this is the story of a young life lost and a community forever changed. This episode contains discussion of violence, homicide, and the death of a minor.  Listener discretion is advised. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: 00:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.  00:24 Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. I just want to say how much fun I had at CrimeCon this past weekend in Vegas. Caesar’s Palace is huge.  00:44 I had been there before, but I guess I never really truly walked around. It’s humongous. The area where they had the convention was kind of spread out and there wasn’t a lot of signage. I think the only complaint that we had was that there was no opportunity to get like a soda or a cup of coffee without walking way over from where we were all the way back into Caesar’s Palace.  01:14 And so, it’s kind of difficult to get around. Next year is going to be in Orlando in September. So, we’re already super excited about that. But I’m not going to lie. I think I’m going to drive because shipping for all my merch was ridiculous crazy.  01:30 And then I had to pay over $1,000 to have it stored before CrimeCon started. And then, of course, you have to pay for them to bring it to you. And then you have to ship back what you didn’t sell. And so, when you add all that up, you’re looking at thousands of dollars.  01:49 I know we’ve talked about this before. Podcasting really doesn’t pay. When you don’t have sponsors like a lot of us do or do not, then it’s a pretty big expense considering the fact that you’ve already taken off work to be there.  02:04 So, it had its challenges, but overall, it was amazing. We met so many nice people and I was able to pick the brain of a lot of people that have been podcasting a lot longer than me. It’s always educational and it’s such a great community because everyone really tries to help each other.  02:25 It’s not like a dog eat dog where, you know, I want to get big before you do. It’s a community of people. And I love that. We all come from different angles. We all have different experiences. We all tell stories a little bit different.  02:42 And it’s okay. There’s room for everybody. A lot of true crime lovers. I was super humbled by the number of people that came by my booth wanting my autograph and wanting my picture with them. I have a sweet little lady from California who actually said that she crochets while she’s listening to my podcast and she crocheted me a magnifying glass and it was so sweet.  03:09 It had like a little hook on it where I could like hang it on my Christmas tree. I think I’m going to do a little true crime Christmas tree in my office this year just because I think it’s neat. I thought that was amazing.  03:20 And so, I just… I love meeting people. I had a lot of people come by and say, you’re my favorite. You’re my favorite true crime podcast. I listen to you every week. And that just makes me feel so good.  03:31 Like I said, we’re all like just so humbled by this. We definitely didn’t do this to become well known or anything like that. I just like to educate. And then it helps me vent because again, like I told a lot of people, when I would come home from work after a rough day, my kids didn’t want to hear how my day went and what I did.  03:53 And my husband didn’t either. It’s a lot of trauma that you carry with you when you work in this field. You know, police officers, firefighters, EMS, people that work at the funeral home, last responders, first responders, the medical examiner’s office.  04:09 So, it’s heavy and it’s a lot of weight. And you don’t always get to decompress. And it’s really hard after you’ve had a rough day to go home and just like go to bed. And sometimes you just need to vent and talk about it.  04:25 Anyway, absolutely loved our time at CrimeCon. Hoping to go to Crime Cruise in November. We’re going to have to see how school works out for me and how I’m going to make that happen because I will be in the middle of a semester.  04:40 But