Texas Teen Seeks New Trial and Judge Following Conviction in Fatal Track Meet Stabbing

In a high-profile case that has captured nationwide attention, a Texas teenager convicted of a deadly stabbing incident is now seeking a retrial, citing issues with the judge’s conduct. The teen, found guilty of killing a 17-year-old at a high school track event, claims the case was mishandled.

Karmelo Anthony, who was 19 at the time of the conviction, received a 35-year prison sentence. A Collin County jury rejected his self-defense argument concerning his confrontation with Austin Metcalf in the stadium bleachers last year, leading to his conviction for murder.

This week, in suburban Dallas, hearings will begin to consider Anthony’s request for a new trial and a different judge, highlighting possible judicial errors that might have influenced the case’s outcome.

Anthony’s defense argues that District Judge John Roach imposed unduly harsh courtroom rules and failed to provide complete jury instructions. These alleged missteps, they contend, may have rushed the jury’s decision, which came after just three hours of deliberation following a near weeklong trial.

The incident drew heightened scrutiny, partly due to the viral spread of social media posts presenting the crime in racial terms; Anthony is Black, while Metcalf was white. Nonetheless, both legal teams emphasized in court that race was not a factor in this tragic confrontation.

Anthony did not testify during the trial.

During the trial, students described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team. The teens went to different high schools.

Several schools were competing when Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent that was perched in the bleachers. Austin Metcalf and others had repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation.

Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses testified that Anthony was the aggressor.

Anthony at one point reached inside a bag and replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.

Metcalf pushed Anthony, according to witnesses, who said Anthony then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.