Karmelo Anthony will not be getting a new murder trial.
The teenager that is accused of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf and sparking one of the most absurd race wars in modern times is heading to prison, barring unforeseen developments.
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Retired Kaufman County Judge Michael Chitty on Saturday denied Anthony’s motion for a new trial after a two-day hearing.
Anthony, now 19, was convicted by a Collin County jury and sentenced in June to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing Metcalf during a confrontation at a Frisco, TX, track meet.
His attorneys wanted that conviction thrown out and the entire case tried again. They didn’t get it. The defense threw a number of arguments at the court, claiming Anthony had been denied a fair trial because of everything from jury instructions and restrictions on public access to an alleged “gentleman’s agreement” between prosecutors and the original defense team.
Here is the actual ruling from the judge. There is no explanation why he denied Karmelo Anthony’s motion for a new trial pic.twitter.com/K7oraNcRsA
— J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) August 22, 2026
That agreement became one of the more interesting parts of the hearing. Anthony’s appellate lawyers claimed prosecutors had agreed with the defense before trial not to introduce certain damaging allegations about either teenager — only to violate that understanding during the trial.
Among the material discussed during the new-trial proceedings were allegations that Metcalf had previously engaged in racist or aggressive behavior. But fortunately for Americans, this was determined to have no bearing on the case.
READ MORE: This Shocking Information About Karmelo Anthony Was Kept From the Jury
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Could Convicted Murderer Karmelo Anthony Get Off Easy? Jury Contemplates ‘Sudden Passion’ Defense
The hearing also surfaced allegations that Anthony had stalked a former girlfriend and possessed an obsession with violence.
Those claims were not part of the evidence upon which the jury convicted Anthony, but they became relevant to his attorneys’ argument that prosecutors had broken the pretrial understanding about what material would remain outside the courtroom.
The Collin County District Attorney’s Office has maintained that prosecutors behaved ethically. Chitty wasn’t persuaded that the defense had established grounds to wipe away the conviction.
🚨 IT’S OFFICIAL: Convicted m*rderer Karmelo Anthony is NOT getting a retrial, he’s facing 35 years in prison for slaughtering Austin Metcalf
He had intent to m*rder, and said, “when I stab, I’m gonna lick their blood off the blade” 😡
Karmelo is frankly LUCKY he isn’t in… pic.twitter.com/sQ8EiklylP
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 22, 2026
The ruling comes after another unusual development earlier this week. Collin County Judge John Roach, who presided over Anthony’s trial, was recused Wednesday from deciding the motion for a new trial. Chitty, a retired Kaufman County judge, was subsequently assigned to hear the challenge.
Had Chitty granted the motion, Anthony’s existing murder conviction would have been set aside, and prosecutors would have faced the prospect of trying one of the country’s most closely watched murder cases all over again.
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Instead, the jury’s verdict stands. But Anthony’s legal battle isn’t necessarily over. His attorneys can now take their challenge to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, where his direct appeal of the murder conviction is already headed. The defense can raise some of the same issues there, and potentially advance additional claims involving the conduct of the trial.
That process could take a while. Dallas appellate attorney Brett Ordiway, who isn’t involved in Anthony’s case, previously told The Dallas Morning News that the appellate court may not even have the complete record and briefing necessary to seriously consider the case until early 2027.
“That’ll be a long road ahead there,” Ordiway said.
For now, though, the most immediate attempt to undo Anthony’s conviction has failed.
A jury heard the murder case, found Anthony guilty and sentenced him to 35 years behind bars. His attorneys then received a separate hearing to argue that the trial was fundamentally unfair.
After two days of testimony and argument, another judge wasn’t buying it. Karmelo Anthony’s conviction stands.
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