A judge has rejected Karmelo Anthony’s request for a new trial.
Anthony was convicted on June 9 of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf and was later sentenced to 35 years in prison. Prosecutors said he fatally stabbed Metcalf during a school track meet near Dallas, Texas, in April 2025.
The 19-year-old sought a retrial last week, claiming his rights were violated during pretrial hearings he did not attend and alleging that former Collin County Judge John Roach conducted conferences that were not documented.
Anthony’s attorneys also argued that limits placed on courtroom access during the proceedings deprived him of his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.
On Saturday, however, Michael Chitty, the new judge overseeing the case, denied the defense motion.
‘Upon reviewing the motion, the record, the evidence and argument, the briefs, and the relevant case law, the Court has determined that the motion should be denied,’ the judge’s order stated.
‘It is therefore considered, ordered, and adjudged by the Court that the Motion for New Trial is denied.’
Chitty issued the ruling after testimony wrapped up Friday evening, following a turbulent scene in court when new information involving Anthony and Metcalf was disclosed.
Karmelo Anthony’s bid for a new trial has been denied by a judge
Anthony was found guilty of murdering Austin Metcalf on June 9 and subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison
The judge heard how both sides willingly entered into a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ beforehand – which could ultimately undermine the defense’s belief that rights were violated.
As part of the deal, incredibly damaging information about both Anthony and Metcalf was left out of the trial, with the jury only hearing about ‘what happened under the tent’ referring to the track team tent where the stabbing happened.
Those details came to light in front of the judge on Friday – including that Anthony shockingly threatened to shoot up a school when he was 16, and that he had threatened to shoot and stab his girlfriend.
‘Imma shoot the school up tmr,’ Anthony, 19, texted in 2023 when he was 16 and attending Centennial High School in Frisco, according to court testimony.
‘How many bullets you want coming out of your chest,’ he threatened his girlfriend, Valeria Perez, in 2024, prosecutors said on Friday.
Anthony threatened Perez, who is still dating the killer and supported him in court, with violence multiple times.
That same year, he threatened to stab her, according to lawyers for the state.
After Anthony’s murder trial, the judge who presided over the case released a trove of evidence, like this image of the Memorial High School tent where the stabbing happened on April 2, 2025
Anthony previously threatened to shoot his girlfriend, Valeria Perez, according to court testimony presented on Friday
A few weeks later, he sent her a text revealing a disturbing, violent fantasy.
‘When I stab someone, I’m gonna lick the blood off the blade,’ the text said.
Prosecutors unveiled this information in a bid to disprove the defense’s argument that Anthony’s rights were violated.
Metcalf’s history of arrests, problems at school, and racist behavior was also revealed for the first time in the explosive hearing.
Anthony’s lawyers claimed Metcalf was allegedly caught spray-painting racist graffiti, including ‘kill all black people’ and the N-word, defense attorneys revealed.
He ultimately received 12 months of probation for the incident, according to Anthony’s lawyer, who also revealed that Austin had previously faced charges for assault causing bodily injury and had been arrested.
In the May 2018 incident, while he was still in elementary school, he allegedly shoved a girl to the ground and injured her shoulder badly enough to require hospitalization.
Anthony admitted he stabbed and killed Metcalf at a football stadium in Frisco during the track meet, but maintained he did so in self-defense.
Anthony’s lawyers claimed Metcalf (pictured with his twin brother Hunter and their dad Jeff Metcalf) was allegedly caught spray-painting racist graffiti, including ‘kill all black people’ and the N-word, defense attorneys revealed
Almost immediately after his arrest at the track meet, the case became a national flashpoint over race, politics and privilege.
However, a diverse jury – which included Hispanic, Asian, and Indian people – did not buy the self-defense excuse, rejecting the option to sentence Anthony to manslaughter.
In just three hours, the jury found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to 35 years behind bars for the crime.
Within days of his trial ending, Anthony’s parents, Kayla Hayes and Andrew Anthony, claimed their son had not had a fair trial and promised to fight for a new one.
Just two months after his conviction, Anthony acquired a new high-powered legal team of six lawyers who have alleged that the teenager’s rights were violated during the trial.
Roach, the judge who presided over Anthony’s trial, was ordered to be removed from the case after his legal team argued that the judge enforced very strict courtroom rules and gave an interview after the trial concluded.
After he was removed, Anthony’s supporters cheered in the courtroom hallways and outside the building.
Roach sat down for an 18-minute interview with WFAA in Dallas after the trial was over.
A courtroom sketch of Anthony seated alongside his lawyers during his trial
Roach, the judge who presided over Anthony’s trial, was ordered to be removed from the case after his legal team argued that the judge enforced very strict courtroom rules and gave an interview (pictured) after the trial concluded
In it, he said that he ‘followed the law’ to ‘the T ‘ and admitted that the ‘trial started off bad.’
He also confessed that he was ‘ticked’ when AI-generated images claiming to be from inside the courtroom started to surface. No video or photographs were allowed inside the room.
Anthony’s supporters have claimed that he stabbed Metcalf that day in an act of self-defense after being bullied, shoved, and provoked.
Meanwhile, those opposing Anthony said the stabbing was an overreaction that did not need to end in death.
Metcalf was unarmed when Anthony stabbed him in the heart that day.
This is a breaking news story.
