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Judge denies Karmelo Anthony's bid for new trial after murder conviction in track meet stabbing
McKINNEY, Texas — A Texas judge has denied a bid for a new trial for Karmelo Anthony, who had been sentenced to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing a fellow student at a high school track meet.
Retired Kaufman County District Judge Michael Chitty denied Anthony's motion for a new trial, which had alleged in part that a "gentleman's agreement" between the trial attorneys impacted his ability to testify in his own defense.
"Upon reviewing the motion, the record, the evidence and argument, the briefs, and the relevant case law, the Court has determined the motion should be denied," Chitty wrote in his order on Saturday.
Anthony's attorneys argued that the teen acted in self-defense when he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco in April 2025, while prosecutors called the killing "unjustified" and "plain and simple murder."
Anthony's legal team can appeal the ruling.
A Collin County jury found Anthony, 19, guilty of murder following three hours of deliberation in June. The same jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison after several more hours of deliberation. Anthony did not testify in his own defense in the trial.
In their motion seeking a retrial, Anthony's new attorneys claimed that the teen was "coerced" into waiving his right to testify, stemming from a purported dispute between defense attorneys and prosecutors about whether his testimony would be covered by the agreement limiting certain character evidence in the trial. Defense attorneys alleged this denied him a "complete defense."
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The defense also alleged that Collin County Judge John Roach's courtroom restrictions, which limited public access to the proceedings, denied Anthony a fair trial.
Attorneys for both the state and the trial defense took the stand during the two-day hearing on Anthony's motion for a new trial, largely revisiting proceedings that happened behind closed doors regarding the "gentleman's agreement," which kept certain character evidence regarding the defendant and the victim out of the trial.
Post-trial defense attorney Russell Wilson said during opening remarks that Anthony decided not to testify because he believed the prosecution would not adhere to the unrecorded agreement not to question him about his past behavior, beyond what happened during the confrontation at the track meet, WFAA, which was in the courtroom for the camera-less hearing, reported.
Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye, meanwhile, told the court that the trial defense attorneys agreed to the arrangement and maintained that it was held. He said he offered the agreement to "stay away from historical character and stick to the facts -- what happened under the tent" in order to "keep the peace" amid what he said was intense public vitriol over the case that led to threats against both sides, WFAA reported.
"I knew this case was going to be racially charged, divisive, and media would make it about race," Wirskye said while testifying during the hearing, per WFAA.
Prosecutors and the defense told jurors during the trial that the altercation between Anthony, who is Black, and Metcalf, who was white, had nothing to do with race.
During the two-day hearing on the motion for a new trial, prosecutors and the trial defense attorneys detailed some of the damaging character evidence regarding the defendant's and victim's prior behavior and texts that jurors did not hear.
Chitty was newly assigned to oversee the case following the removal of the Collin County judge who presided over the high-profile murder trial after the defense questioned his impartiality.
In his order Wednesday granting the defense's motion to recuse Roach from any further matters in the Anthony case, Judge Sid Harle stated that there were grounds for recusal "in that the evidence adduced at the hearing is such that the respondent judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."
The defense motion cited what it called "problematic comments" Roach made during an interview following the verdict, in which it said the judge "endorsed the jury's guilty verdict" and defended his courtroom restrictions. It also pointed to a public letter Roach released following the trial, in which he stated that those who worked on the case "contributed to ensuring the process was conducted fairly."
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