Karmelo Anthony denied new trial, murder conviction stands 

A Texas judge has denied a motion for a new trial in the case of Karmelo Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of another teen.

Anthony, 19, was convicted June 9 in the stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in April 2025.

Anthony, who attended a different school than Metcalf, walked into the tent Metcalf and his classmates were standing in to get out of the rain. After an argument started, Anthony pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the heart.

Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms as the brother tried to stop the bleeding.

After Anthony’s first-degree murder conviction, his lawyers filed a motion for a new trial claiming the public had restricted access to the court proceedings, denying Anthony his right to an open trial. However, the prosecution argued restricted access was necessary due to the case’s high profile.

Anthony’s lawyers also claimed their client was pressured into waiving his right to testify in his own defense, and the jury was misled not to consider Anthony’s actions as self-defense.

After two days of testimony over the motion, Senior District Judge Michael Chitty denied it Saturday.

“We respect, and expected, the court’s decision denying the motion for a new trial,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said in a statement. “The jury’s guilty verdict stands, and we remain confident in the process.

“Every defendant has the right to appeal, and our thoughts and prayers remain with the Metcalf family in the painful wake of last week’s hearing.”

Metcalf’s father Jeff Metcalf told Good Morning America a prison sentence can’t bring him justice after the loss of his son.

“I got handed a life sentence,” he explained, noting his wife and other son are also paying the price of loss. “So did Meghan, so did Hunter, and so did everybody else in my family. We don’t ever get to see Austin again. We don’t get to talk to him. We don’t get to hug him.

“This guy?” Metcalf asked, referring to Anthony. “He still gets to see his family. It’s a tragedy that he has to be in prison. I feel sorry for him, just for the fact that his life is pretty much ruined.

“I don’t feel sorry for what he did though. He needs to be held accountable.”

Anthony’s original appeal, filed the day of his conviction, is pending in the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals and will now proceed after the new-trial denial.