Karmelo Anthony appeals murder conviction — after family, supporters claimed racism

Karmelo Anthony filed a notice to appeal his first-degree murder conviction, court records show.

Anthony, 19, filed the notice Wednesday, just a day after being sentenced to 35 years in prison for stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death at a 2025 Texas high school track meet.

The notice is not an official appeal, but is an official declaration that Anthony plans to file an appeal.
Karmelo Anthony was transported to the Collin County, Texas, jail after his conviction and sentencing.Collin County Jail
Anthony’s family and his supporters have repeatedly claimed he was the victim of racism in the prosecution, which legal experts predicted would most likely take center stage in the appeal.

“They’re going to throw the kitchen sink at this,” Texas criminal defense attorney Jeremy Rosenthal told The Post, explaining “racial allegations of jury strikes” are “the most obvious thing that jumps off the page.”

Those racial allegations arose during the jury selection, when prosecutors objected to three black candidates and Anthony’s attorney claimed the objections were racially motivated.

Prosecutors were then required to explain why their motivations were not racial and said because the individuals were teachers they may have biased sympathies towards either the defendant and victim, who were both high school juniors.
Jeff Metcalf/Facebook
The judge denied the defense’s racism claims, and the jury ended up comprised of white, Asian and Hispanic people – but no black people.

But Rosenthal – an attorney in the same county where Anthony’s case was tried – doesn’t think the race claim will hold water in court.

“Legally, I don’t see the appellate court overturning that unless we learn that there were other educators on the jury,” Rosenthal said.

Anthony and Metcalf clashed at an April 2025 track meet in Frisco, when Anthony was sitting in Metcalf’s team’s tent during a rain delay.

Matcalf repeatedly told Anthony to leave the tent, but Anthony refused before finally saying, “Touch me and find out.”

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

Anthony claimed he was acting in self-defense – insisting he felt intimidated by both Metcalf and his brother, who had joined the despite.

And his family and supporters have insisted the prosecution was racist because Anthony is black and his victim was white.

They have also claimed his first-degree conviction — rather than second-degree or manslaughter — and the much more sever sentencing entailed were also part of a racist pattern.