A Texas judge has denied convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony’s request for a retrial after the release of details about the case that sent him to jail for 35 years.
Anthony, now 19, was convicted of the brutal murder of Texas high school student Austin Metcalf, 17, in 2025. Anthony stabbed Metcalf to death after an argument during a school track meet in Frisco, Texas. He was sentenced to 35 years in jail after pleading not guilty to the charges.
But Anthony and his legal team had filed for a retrial, claiming that strict courtroom rules and improper jury instructions marred the previous trial. They also claimed Anthony’s decision not to testify occurred because prosecutors demanded that the trial focus on the events leading up to the stabbing.
Anthony’s team did get one small victory when the original judge was removed from the appeal process over his post-trial comments that the original verdict “got it right.” But ultimately, the request for a retrial was denied, Fox News reported.
Retired Judge Michael Chitty said a review of the evidence and arguments from the original trial led him to deny the retrial motion following a two-day hearing near Dallas.
Anthony’s attorney, Russell Wilson, vowed once again to appeal the ruling.
Wilson says that the trial went against his client after questions over a backroom agreement led Anthony not to testify on his own behalf at the original trial.
The agreement between the defense and the prosecution was intended to prevent character evidence from being presented to the jury. But eventually, the defense team became fearful that the prosecution would void the agreement if Anthony testified at trial. The defense did not want damning evidence of Anthony’s character revealed to the jury and felt that if he testified, it would open the door for that information to flood out.
The defense also tried to claim that the original judge, John Roach, was biased because he said after the trial that the proceedings “got it right.”
Anthony was found guilty of the 2025 murder, but he maintained that he stabbed Metcalf in self-defense following an altercation over a seating dispute.
The convicted killer immediately fled the scene after stabbing Metcalf once in the chest. Metcalf soon died in his twin brother Hunter’s arms.
“I was protecting myself,” Anthony said. “He put his hands on me.”
Anthony immediately confessed to the stabbing when confronted by police – “I’m not alleged, I did it,” he reportedly said – and asked officers if Metcalf was “going to be OK.”
Throughout the trial, witnesses repeatedly said that Anthony had been asked to leave the tent up to 15 times, adding that he instigated the deadly conflict with Metcalf.
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