A Texas judge who oversaw the closely watched murder trial of teenage defendant Karmelo Anthony has spoken out in support of the jury’s decision.
Anthony, 19, was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet last year.
In the aftermath of the case, some critics argued that Anthony was treated unfairly because he is Black and the jury did not include any Black members.
But in an interview with WFAA last week, Judge John Roach said he stood by the outcome when asked whether he believed the jury reached the correct verdict.
“Yes, they did, because they were picked based upon the law, they listened to the facts,” Roach said. “It happened in this courtroom, and they got a verdict.”
The judge also said that, based on their limited interactions, Anthony seemed like a pleasant person, but added that he will still have to face the consequences of what happened.
‘He seems like a nice young man who committed a crime, and he understands today more than any day before the consequences of committing a crime like he did,’ Roach told the network.
He added that court officials began preparing for the trial eight months in advance, anticipating the extraordinary public interest in the case, and he is satisfied with how the proceedings turned out.
Karmelo Anthony, 19, was found guilty on Tuesday of murder and was sentenced to 35 years behind bars
Judge John Roach defended the jury’s verdict in an interview with WFAA
‘As long as I follow the law, I sleep well at night,’ he said.
The murder case shocked America, and the discussion surrounding the killing of a white teenager by a black peer quickly became racially fraught.
During the trial, Anthony and his legal team claimed he stabbed Metcalf in an act of self-defense after they got into a confrontation during a rain delay at the sporting event on April 2, 2025.
Metcalf called out Anthony for standing under a tent that did not belong to his school, the Frisco Police Department said.
But prosecutors eviscerated Anthony’s self-defense claim that Metcalf attacked him first with video evidence and witness testimony.
Witnesses who were in the tent described Anthony as the aggressor, testifying that Anthony told Metcalf, ‘Touch me and see what happens,’ provoking Metcalf to push Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
Prosecutors said Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, rushed to his aid as Anthony ran from the scene and later tried to blend into groups of kids who were exiting the stadium.
Anthony sat motionless in court as police body camera footage from the track meet showed Hunter pleading for help after the stabbing.
Anthony and his legal team claimed he stabbed Metcalf in an act of self-defense after they got into a confrontation during a rain delay at the sporting event on April 2, 2025
Metcalf called out Anthony for standing under a tent that did not belong to his school
The fatal stabbing occurred at a high school track meet last year
Jurors then gasped in horror after being shown never-before-seen photos of Metcalf’s punctured heart during the trial.
Metcalf was stabbed once, with the knife piercing through his bone in the center of his chest and puncturing the right side of his heart, a medical examiner testified.
Still, while cross-examining the medical examiner, Anthony’s lawyers implied that Metcalf impaled himself on the knife.
He had originally faced between five to 99 years in prison for the murder, but prosecutors agreed to allow the jury to consider ‘sudden passion’ as a factor when determining his sentence.
‘Sudden passion’ is a legal term in Texas that allows a criminal to argue they were in an intense emotional state when they committed wrongdoing. It would have reduced Anthony’s sentence to that of a second-degree felony for which he could have served as little as two years behind bars.
The murder case shocked America, and the discussion surrounding the killing of a white teenager by a black peer quickly became racially fraught
Critics have claimed Anthony had been treated unfairly at his trial trial because he is black, and there were no black members on the jury. People who showed up to the courthouse to support Anthony are seen reacting to the verdict
However, the jury rejected the argument and spent less than three hours passing its guilty verdict, and another roughly two and a half hours before they handed down their sentence.
Anthony will now have to serve at least half of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.
But the teenage killer filed a notice of appeal less than 24 hours after he learned his fate for fatally stabbing Metcalf in the heart.
‘We believe there are several important issues for the appellate courts to consider. An appeal is the next part of the legal process and a right afforded every American,’ his lawyer, Mike Howard, previously told TMZ.
