Karmelo Anthony Files Appeal: Lawyers Argue All-White Jury Was Biased

Frisco, Texas — Karmelo Anthony’s defense team filed a formal notice of appeal on June 13, 2026, challenging his June 9 murder conviction and 35-year sentence, arguing that the complete absence of Black jurors in the Collin County trial created an irreparably biased panel that violated his consтιтutional right to a fair trial.

The 19-year-old Black student from Centennial High School was convicted of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a white athlete from Memorial High School, during an April 2, 2025, confrontation at a Frisco ISD track meet. Prosecutors proved Anthony provoked the fight and escalated it to ᴅᴇᴀᴅly force after being shoved. The jury deliberated less than three hours before rejecting self-defense under Texas’s Stand Your Ground law and later imposing the 35-year term.

In the appeal filing, lead defense attorney Marcus Ellison ᴀsserted that the all-non-Black jury—selected after prosecutors used peremptory strikes to remove every qualified African American candidate from a 589-person pool—denied Anthony a jury of his peers. “The systematic exclusion of Black jurors in a case this racially charged consтιтutes a textbook Batson violation and fundamentally undermined the fairness of the trial,” Ellison wrote. The defense cited newly surfaced video footage showing Metcalf shoving Anthony first, arguing the jury never properly considered whether that shove justified self-defense.

Anthony’s mother echoed the frustration outside the courthouse: “Isn’t this self-defense? How can you call this a fair trial when no one who looks like my son sat on that jury?” A Change.org peтιтion demanding a pardon or sentence reduction has already surpᴀssed 52,000 signatures, with supporters highlighting the lightning-fast deliberation and the racial composition of the panel as evidence of systemic bias.

Collin County DA Greg Willis dismissed the claims, stating, “The jury was selected fairly after extensive voir dire. This case was decided on overwhelming evidence, not skin color.” Metcalf’s family expressed relief at the verdict while noting the appeal will prolong their pain.

The appeal now moves to the Texas Court of Appeals, where the Batson challenges and newly disclosed video will face fresh scrutiny. As Anthony begins serving his sentence at the Polunsky Unit, the filing has intensified national debate over jury selection, self-defense laws, and whether the justice system can deliver impartial verdicts in racially charged cases involving young Black defendants. The coming months will determine whether the 35-year sentence stands—or whether the absence of Black jurors ultimately forces a retrial.