Karmelo Anthony
Appeals Murder
Conviction After
Racial-Bias Claims

Karmelo Anthony's murder case has moved from verdict to appeal.

CBS Texas reported that Anthony and his legal team filed a notice of appeal less than 24 hours after a Collin County jury found him guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco track meet. The jury sentenced Anthony to 35 years in prison.

What is confirmed

The notice of appeal is confirmed through CBS Texas, which cited Collin County court records. KERA, with Associated Press reporting, confirmed the underlying sentence: 35 years in prison after jurors convicted Anthony of murder and rejected the defense's self-defense argument.

Anthony is 19 now. The fatal stabbing happened during a 2025 high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. During the trial, prosecutors argued Anthony knowingly caused Metcalf's death, while the defense argued self-defense and asked jurors to consider sudden passion during punishment.

Where the racial-bias claim fits

The racial-bias allegation is not an appellate finding. It is a claim from Anthony's family, supporters and defense-side public framing, with the strongest legal hook likely tied to jury selection.

NoDechev covered that issue when the trial opened: local reporting said the final jury included no Black jurors after defense objections over dismissed Black prospective jurors. The judge accepted the prosecution's race-neutral explanation at trial and allowed the case to proceed.

Image: Former Collin County courthouse in McKinney, Texas - Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons licensed.

What an appeal can do

An appeal is not a second jury trial. Appellate courts usually review whether legal errors occurred and whether those errors mattered enough to affect the outcome.

CBS Texas quoted appellate attorneys explaining that the next steps include sending the clerk's record and court reporter's transcript to the appellate court. They also noted that overturning a jury verdict is difficult, because appeals focus on the legal record rather than simply reweighing the facts jurors heard.

What the appeal may argue

The likely lanes are jury selection, trial rulings, sufficiency of the evidence, and whether the judge excluded or allowed evidence in ways that affected the verdict. The racial-bias argument, if raised formally, would need to be tied to the trial record, not just the crowd reaction outside court.

That is the key distinction. A family member shouting bias after a verdict is a public allegation. A successful appeal requires a legal error preserved in the record and strong enough to justify relief.

What the sentence means now

Anthony has been sentenced to 35 years. CBS Texas reported he was transferred from Collin County custody to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility after the verdict. Filing a notice of appeal does not erase the sentence while the appellate process begins.

KERA reported that the case drew national attention because Anthony is Black, Metcalf was white, and no Black jurors sat on the final panel. That public debate will continue, but the appeal will move at court speed: records, briefs, responses, oral argument if granted, then a decision.

What to watch next

Watch for the formal appellate brief. That will show whether Anthony's team leans hardest on jury selection, self-defense evidence, evidentiary rulings or a broader due-process argument. Until that brief is filed, the clean wording is: Anthony has appealed; family/supporters allege racial bias; no appellate court has ruled on that claim.

NoDechev rating: appeal confirmed, bias allegation unresolved. The notice of appeal is real; the racial-bias claim is a contested argument, not a court finding.