Karmelo Anthony’s legal team on Tuesday announced it is seeking a fresh trial and the recusal of a state judge four weeks after a Texas jury convicted him of murder with a sentence of 35 years in prison.
The matter related to the fatal stabbing of fellow high school athlete Austin Metcalf, 17, at a track meet in 2025, as Breitbart News reported.
Anthony’s new attorneys, who did not represent him at the trial, argued the conviction should be set aside altogether, claiming their client’s constitutional rights were violated because his first trial wasn’t fully accessible to the public.
They also claimed prosecutors prevented him from testifying in his own defense, according to court documents seen by TMZ.
If a new trial is granted it should be overseen by a different judge, his lawyers further demanded.
Anthony was found guilty of murder for the April 2, 2025, killing of Metcalf at a Frisco, TX high school track meet.
Anthony’s legal team pursued a self-defense strategy jurors ultimately found wanting after numerous eyewitnesses, including one called by Anthony’s own defense team, testified Anthony, not Metcalf, had provoked the deadly incident.
After days of testimony refuting their self-defense narrative, Anthony’s lawyers asked jurors to consider manslaughter, a lesser charge than murder.
A Karmelo Anthony supporter reacts to the verdict in the trial in front of the Collin County courthouse Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Ultimately, jurors rejected manslaughter as well as the notion Anthony had killed out of “sudden passion” as opposed to premeditation.
As it stands, Karmelo Anthony will be eligible for parole after 17.5 years.