Karmelo Anthony update: Judge rejects new trial request after 35-year prison sentence in Austin Metcalf stabbing case

A Texas judge has denied Karmelo Anthony's request for a new trial in connection to the 2025 stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet. The victim was white, while Anthony is Black. The judge, Michael Chitty, made the decision following a two-day hearing this week. Anthony, aged 19, was previously convicted of murder in June and handed a 35-year prison sentence.

The judge did not provide further details in his half-page order. Anthony's defense attorney, Russell Wilson, stated that they would appeal the decision. The prosecutor, Bill Wirskye, defended the trial as fair, and Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis expressed confidence in the process, reaffirming that the jury's guilty verdict stands.

Anthony's attorneys argued that the judge's courtroom rules were too restrictive, limiting public access to the proceedings, and citing a posttrial interview in which Judge John Roach suggested the jury had made the right decision. Despite the controversy, both sides emphasized that the case was not racially motivated, and the jurors had rejected Anthony's claim that he was acting in self-defense during the confrontation with Metcalf in the bleachers.