A murder trial that exposed deep racial divisions across the country came to a swift and definitive close when jurors found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder after less than three hours of deliberation.
Anthony, who is Black, received a 35-year prison sentence for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, who was white, during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas, in April 2025.
He was taken into custody on June 9 and quickly signaled that he intended to challenge the verdict, insisting within days of his conviction that his rights had been violated.
Less than two months later, Anthony returned to a Collin County courtroom as his case moved into a new legal phase.
On Wednesday, Anthony’s attorneys made a significant move toward seeking a new trial, winning their request to have the judge who presided over his murder case removed from future appeal proceedings, which are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
Inside the courtroom, Anthony appeared noticeably different after his brief time in prison, a change his attorney addressed with an explanation that raised eyebrows.
‘This is a young man going through puberty and maturing through this process,’ Lee Merritt, a member of Anthony’s legal team, told Our News Outlet when asked about his changing appearance.
Anthony, 19, now had a mustache and hair on his chin, giving him the appearance of someone several years older than he looked during his June trial.
Karmelo Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison for murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, who is white, at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas, in April 2025
A sketch artist captured Karmelo Anthony sitting at the defense table with his lawyers on June 4
Anthony, wearing a dark green inmate jumpsuit, was shackled at the wrists and bound at his feet, the metal clanging as he walked to the defense table.
Merritt was sat close to Anthony and the rest of his legal team during proceedings.
‘He looked thinner, he looked a little bit more mature, a little more facial hair,’ Merritt said.
Merritt is acting as an advisor and spokesman for the pro bono lawyers working to get Anthony a new trial, however, he is not one of the team of six lawyers presenting the case in court.
‘His hair was gone so that added to it. He made the decision to shave his hair.’
In a booking photo taken when he was transferred to the state prison after his conviction, Anthony can be seen completely bald.
But by comparison during his June trial, Anthony looked baby-faced without any facial hair and a clean cut hair cut.
His projected age in front of jurors during the trial was a legal strategy to gain sympathy, Austin Metcalf’s father told Our News Outlet.
Austin Metcalf was just 17 when he stabbed and killed at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas
‘This is a young man going through puberty and maturing through this process,’ Lee Merritt told Our News Outlet of Anthony
‘Of course he did. They tried to make him look a little boy during trial,’ Jeff Metcalf said.
In fact, during the summer trial, potential jurors pointed out Anthony’s youth while being questioned if they could find him guilty and send him to prison for up to 99 years.
‘I don’t know if I could send someone his age to jail for a long time. I’d want him to learn something,’ a potential female juror told lawyers as they slashed through a pool of 600 potential jurors.
Ultimately, jurors settled on a 35-year prison stay after taking less than three hours to find him guilty.
However, within days of the guilty verdict, Anthony hired a new team of lawyers who announced they were seeking a new trial as they claimed Anthony’s rights had been violated during the June proceedings.
Aside from asking for a new trial, the new defense team asked for the judge who had overseen the murder trial to be removed from the case.
His legal team argued that Judge John Roach should be removed from the case because he had violated legal impartiality rules by giving an interview and other public statements when Anthony had already filed for an appeal after his trial.
Appeals hearings for Karmelo Anthony continue Wednesday and Thursday at the courthouse in McKinney, Texas
Karmelo Anthony supporters cheered on Wednesday when judge Roach was recused from the appeal proceedings
A visiting judge ruled Roach would be removed from the case and that a new judge will be assigned for Thursday’s hearing on the retrial request.
As the ruling was announced, cheering could be heard from the hallway where Anthony supporters who had not been able to get a seat for the hearing were gathered.
They poured down the main steps of the McKinney courthouse, shouting ‘Free Karmelo’ and ‘justice.’
Several men dressed in black who were wearing Black Panther shirts were part of the group.
Merritt acknowledged the ‘most important day for us now is tomorrow, when a new judge would hear the request for a new trial.’
Despite Wednesday’s win getting Judge John Roach removed, Anthony’s lawyers still face a considerably harder fight Thursday when they will make the argument for a retrial.
A retrial is seen as a long shot for Anthony, as legal observers have previously told Our News Outlet that many judges are unwilling to throw out a jury’s verdict unless there is a clear and pressing reason to do so.
Additionally, Thursday’s hearing may serve as a way for Anthony’s team to document complaints that an appeals court, not a local judge, will hear down the road in deciding if Anthony gets a new trial.
Meanwhile, Metcalf’s father said the worst case scenario would be to have to re-try the case.
‘It’s like carrying an open wound, you know? It’s like, well, it was almost healed, but rip off the Band Aid and rip off the scab with it. And it opens a new wound again. So, it starts the healing process again from zero,’ Jeff Metcalf stated.
