A Collin County judge just shut down Karmelo Anthony's attempt to get a fresh trial.
Retired District Judge Michael Chitty made the ruling on Saturday, August 22, following two days of evidentiary proceedings, as reported here. Anthony, who was 17 at the time, stood accused of fatally stabbing 17 year old Austin Metcalf of Frisco Memorial High School on April 2, 2025. The killing took place at a Frisco ISD track competition held at Kuykendall Stadium.
Here is what went down that day. Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School, walked into a tent reserved for Memorial High School athletes. He was told repeatedly to leave. Instead, things escalated. Anthony pulled a knife from his backpack and plunged it into Metcalf's chest once, killing him. He confessed on the spot and was eventually prosecuted as an adult.
A Collin County jury found Anthony guilty of murder on June 9, 2026. They rejected both his claim of self defense and a lesser charge of manslaughter. At sentencing, jurors handed him 35 years behind bars, also turning down a "sudden passion" finding that would have softened his punishment.
So how did he try to wiggle out of this? Anthony brought in a brand new legal team and filed for a retrial on two big grounds. First, they argued that limited courtroom seating and no overflow viewing options violated his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. Second, and this is where it gets wild, they pointed to an informal handshake deal between the original defense lawyers and prosecutors.
That unwritten agreement kept both sides from introducing character evidence, reputation testimony, or prior bad acts involving either Anthony or Metcalf. The idea was to keep the trial focused strictly on what happened at that tent. But Anthony's new attorneys claimed the deal fell apart on the final day of testimony when prosecutors signaled it would not hold if Anthony took the witness stand. That confrontation allegedly forced Anthony to stay silent, robbing him of his ability to mount a full defense.
The original trial judge, John Roach Jr., was removed from the retrial motion after making public comments following the verdict. That is how Judge Chitty ended up presiding.
During the hearing, original defense attorneys Mike Howard and Toby Shook both took the stand. They explained how they had fully prepared Anthony to testify about the confrontation but scrapped the plan after the dispute over the agreement.
But here is the bombshell. With the agreement no longer in play, prosecutors unleashed a flood of previously hidden evidence. Text messages from Anthony's phone allegedly showed him fantasizing about stabbing someone and licking blood from the blade. Other messages revealed what prosecutors described as an obsession with knives and firearms, along with threats and talk of fighting.
School records showed Anthony had been placed in a behavioral program at Louisiana State University around age 6 or 7, designed for children with conduct struggles. Those issues included pushing, punching, and repeated incidents at schools in Louisiana. Additional evidence included reports that a former girlfriend accused Anthony of stalking her on the very morning of the stabbing, plus multiple disciplinary entries.
Judge Chitty weighed all of it and said no. The conviction stands. Anthony is not getting another shot.
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