Karmelo Anthony Trial Begins With Debate Over Who Started Confrontation

Prosecutors say surveillance video will show Karmelo Anthony wasn't trying to avoid trouble at a Texas high school track meet that turned deadly ... he was looking for it.

That's the message jurors heard Thursday as opening statements got underway in Anthony's murder trial over the fatal stabbing of fellow teen Austin Metcalf.

Collin County prosecutor Bill Wirskye told the jury the case boils down to what they will see on surveillance footage from the scene, saying the "video tells the story." According to prosecutors, witnesses heard Anthony tell Metcalf, "Touch me, see what happens," after a dispute erupted inside a team tent.

The state argues those words weren't a warning -- they were an invitation.

Wirskye told jurors the evidence will show Anthony provoked and goaded Metcalf into making physical contact, then escalated the confrontation by pulling a knife and stabbing the 17-year-old in the chest.

Prosecutors described the killing as a "senseless murder" and said witness testimony, video evidence, and Anthony's actions after the stabbing will support their version of events.

Anthony's defense team sees things much differently ... defense attorney Mike Howard argued Metcalf was the aggressor and said Anthony acted in self-defense after being confronted. Howard told jurors his client feared for his safety and used the knife only once during what he described as a fast-moving encounter.

The dramatic opening statements came one day after jury selection was rocked by prospective jurors who admitted they would struggle to convict Anthony or sentence him to prison.