As I wrote yesterday after the verdict but prior to the sentencing:

Anthony must pay the price. But what will the price be? It really depends; he was 17 when he killed Metcalf and perhaps the jury will be lenient for that reason. …

I have a hunch, though, that … Anthony will get less than the maximum sentence.

The maximum was life or 99 years. The crime was a heinous one. And the carrying of the knife to a school track meet, plus witnesses saying Anthony kept his hand in his bag (apparently at the ready with the knife) during basically a verbal spat, indicates the murder was not a sudden “heat of the moment” thing. Premeditation can involve a short time; it doesn’t have to be hours or days. Also, a knife plunged that deeply into the chest would almost certainly be known to be a mortal blow, so it would be very difficult for Anthony to successfully claim that he didn’t mean to kill Metcalf.

Therefore there was a very good argument that Anthony should have gotten life. The death penalty is not allowed if a perpetrator is under 18 and without other special circumstances, and since Anthony was 17 at the time of the murder and the requisite special circumstances were not present, life in prison was the maximum allowed.

Why did Anthony not get a life sentence? The jury didn’t deliberate long, and I don’t think they explained their sentencing decision; at least, I haven’t found an explanation. But I think – as I wrote earlier – it was his youth. Also his baby face. He will have a long time in prison to think about what he did, especially if he ends up serving most of it. But even if he only serves half of it (the minimum, because he would be eligible for parole then), when he gets out he would be around 34 because he’s 19 now. That will have to do.

Meanwhile, the scene in the courtroom during the penalty phase was absolutely heart-rending. I’m not primarily referring to the fact that Anthony himself was weeping during the sentencing phase. Was he weeping mostly for himself? Probably, but I’m not a mind-reader and perhaps the intense sorrow voiced by Metcalf’s family may have moved Anthony. It’s nice to think so, anyway:

Anthony sat with his head on the table moments before the sentence was delivered and appeared to be sobbing, NBC DFW reported.

He stood when asked, but still kept his head angled down, NBC reported.

Metcalf’s mother, Meghan, delivered a powerful statement calling her slain son their family’s beloved peacemaker.

“There was a part of him you can never take from me, the strength I still get from him every day, because I know what it was like to be loved by him. My son was murdered. He didn’t just die. He was taken from us. Just as he was starting to live,” Meghan said.

“You may have just been given a sentence of 35 years, you should feel lucky because I’ve been sentenced to a life without my son.”

Meghan’s sister imparted a poignant question that has haunted Metcalf’s loved ones since his murder.

“One question will always be with me. Why? Why could you not have just left?” she asked.

Anthony kept his head down the whole time – even when Metcalf’s father, Jeff, ordered him to look up, according to the report.

Jeff smacked the podium while reading his statement, telling Anthony that he doesn’t “belong in this community” and detailing how Metcalf’s murder “destroyed the person I used to be.”

Anthony finally raised his head when Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, asked him to look him in the eye.

“You took a son, a brother, a friend, and my best friend, from this world. You took someone from me who was supposed to be an uncle, godfather to my kids. Now I want everything taken from you,” Hunter choked.

Hearbreaking.

Meanwhile, Anthony’s family did not behave well:

After the hearing, Anthony’s mother, Kala, and his brother blasted the killer’s conviction and sentence as “racist and biased” to cheering supporters who chanted “free Karmelo.”

Were these the sort of values Anthony was taught by those who should have been guiding him? Apparently. And yet, of course, they are suffering too.

Here’s some background information about the Anthony family:

By all appearances, the Anthonys look like a typical family. Karmelo has several siblings and the family’s social media showed a comfortable life like vacations, a lavish home and expensive cars, per Distractify. Three years before the incident, they had relocated to North Texas. “Three years ago, my family moved to North Texas, searching for a better life,” Kayla said in a press interview after Karmelo’s arrest, she described their family as loving and said they had provided their children with opportunities to succeed.

The emotional toll of the trial on the family was visible in court. On Monday, Anthony’s parents were summoned into the courtroom for a private visit with their son during a two-hour delay. His mother came out of the courtroom alone and sobbing and had to be escorted to the restroom by security. His father followed shortly after, also in tears. It was not clear what was said during the private meeting, Daily Mail reported.

Did they ever teach Karmelo a sense of personal responsibility? Or was everything bad that happened to him due to racism? I simply don’t know enough to come to any conclusions. But the behavior of his mother and brother now, inflaming crowd passions and calling the verdict racist, may give us a hint.

[NOTE: This Daily Mail article contains more of the victim’s family members’ statements. Very sad.]