DALLAS (AP) — A Texas judge denied a new trial for Karmelo Anthony on Saturday in the stabbing death of a 17-year-old athlete at a high school track meet, a killing that drew national attention and led to harassment of the families.
Anthony, 19, was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the April 2025 killing of Austin Metcalf, 17.
Judge Michael Chitty denied the retrial motion in a half-page order following a two-day hearing this week near Dallas, citing a review of the evidence and arguments. He did not elaborate.
Russell Wilson, Anthony's attorney, said the defense would appeal.
“Our commitment to our client has not changed,” Wilson said. “We will continue to advocate vigorously on his behalf through every lawful avenue available.”
At the center of Anthony’s retrial request was an off-the-record agreement between prosecutors and his trial defense team to keep damaging character evidence about both teenagers out of the proceeding. Both sides agreed to hold back evidence that risked further inflaming a case already boiling with racial tensions and death threats.
The case attracted widespread attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors that the case had nothing to do with race.
But worries that prosecutors would renege on the agreement as Anthony prepared to testify, his attorneys say, came after a heated argument between lawyers on both sides and changed their defense strategy at the eleventh hour. Anthony ultimately decided not to testify.
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye defended the trial as fair this week.
“We respect, and expected, the court’s decision denying the motion for a new trial,” Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said after the denial was announced. “The jury’s guilty verdict stands, and we remain confident in the process. Every defendant has the right to appeal, and our thoughts and prayers remain with the Metcalf family in the painful wake of last week’s hearing.”
Anthony’s attorneys also demanded a retrial because they said trial judge John Roach’s courtroom rules were so strict that they limited the public’s access to the proceedings. And in asking for Roach's recusal, they noted that he gave a posttrial interview with a Dallas TV station in which he expressed agreement with the jury's decision.
“Whatever they say, they got it right,” Roach said.
Roach said his rules were necessary for a fair trial, and prosecutors insisted he did nothing wrong.
Jurors rejected Anthony’s claims that he was defending himself during a confrontation with Metcalf in the bleachers of the track meet, where several schools were competing.
Anthony, who was sitting under a tent in the bleachers, was told repeatedly by Metcalf and others to leave, witnesses testified.
Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses identified Anthony as the aggressor.
At one point Anthony reached inside a bag and said: “Touch me and see what happens,” according to a police report.
According to witnesses Metcalf pushed Anthony, who pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
This booking photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, shows Karmelo Anthony. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Dylan Cease’s latest no-hit bid featured five walks and a rising pitch count into the seventh inning.
It made Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider’s decision on when to lift his ace a little less agonizing.
Cease lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees on Saturday when he allowed a clean single to Jazz Chisholm Jr.
On his 106th pitch, Cease gave up a single to right field on a 97.1-mph fastball to put runners at first and second. After allowing the hit, Cease gave up an RBI single to Austin Wells and was lifted by Schneider. Spencer Miles replaced Cease after 111 pitches.
“I’m just trying to throw strikes and execute pitches really,” Cease said. “It’s obviously hard to do things like that and if I give up a hit, then it’s just meant to be I guess.”
Cease threw seven fewer pitches than his July 8 attempt at San Francisco. He lost his no-hit bid when current Yankees’ outfielder Heliot Ramos hit a line drive single to center field for the Giants in the ninth.
After that game, Schneider said he was willing Cease to keep going because he was a “fan of baseball” and because the game occurred shortly before the All-Star break.
“You kind of want to do what’s right for him in the moment,” Schneider said after Toronto’s 4-3 win. “You want to do what’s right for him long term and you want to try to win the game. So I know I’ve said before where I’m kind of a throwback to where if a guy’s got a no-hitter, I’m going to let him roll, but I think it’s important to kind of keep him right there."
Cease was able to no-hit the Yankees into the seventh despite tying a season-high with five walks. He threw 60 pitches for strikes and first-pitch strikes to 15 of 25 hitters while averaging 95.7 mph on his 40 four-seam fastballs and 88 mph on his 36 sliders.
"The walks were weird,” Schneider said. “There were some close misses. Also I think there’s a couple of four-pitch walks in there, but stuff was really good. Stuff was consistent throughout and he used all of his pitches.
Cease stranded a runner at third in the first and second innings by getting strikeouts against Luis García Jr. and Wells. He ended the fifth by getting José Caballero to line into a double play started by shortstop Ernie Clement.
“He’s been doing it pretty much all year,” Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said through a translator.
Cease was attempting to pitch his second career no-hitter and the second in Toronto history. He threw a no-hitter on July 25, 2024, at Washington for San Diego, which was the Padres’ second no-hitter in team history.
“It feels like it’s happening every single time he steps on the mound,” said outfielder Nathan Lukes, who hit the deciding homer in the eighth. “The guy’s unbelievable. It’s special what he’s doing this year.”
It was the second time Cease carried a no-hitter into the seventh at Yankee Stadium. He lost a no-hit bid against the Yankees on May 7, 2025, when he allowed a homer to Cody Bellinger.
Toronto’s only no-hitter was thrown by Dave Stieb on Sept. 2, 1990, in Cleveland. Before Stieb's no-hitter, he reached the ninth inning four times without allowing a hit.
New York has been no-hit eight times. The last instance was a combined no-hitter by Houston’s Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly on June 25, 2022, at Yankee Stadium.
“He's tough,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Cease. “When he's on his game, the secondary stuff's really good to go with a heater that you got to respect too.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Toronto Blue Jays' Dylan Cease pitches during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease walks to the dugout before the start of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Toronto Blue Jays' Dylan Cease pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
