Just weeks after a Texas jury convicted Karmelo Anthony of murder and sentenced him to 35 years in prison, his new legal team is asking the court to throw out the verdict and grant him a new trial.

The request comes four weeks after Anthony was found guilty in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a fellow high school athlete who was killed during a track meet in 2025. The case drew widespread attention across Texas and the nation because of the shocking violence and the young age of both individuals involved.

Anthony's newly retained attorneys, who did not represent him during the trial, filed motions Tuesday seeking both a retrial and the recusal of the state judge who presided over the case.

According to the defense, Anthony's constitutional rights were violated because the original trial was not fully accessible to the public. They argue that the conviction should be vacated on those grounds and that a new proceeding is warranted.

The filing does not overturn the jury's verdict or Anthony's sentence. Instead, it begins what could be a lengthy appellate process in which the defense will attempt to persuade the court that legal errors affected the fairness of the proceedings. Prosecutors are expected to oppose the motions and defend the conviction.

The death of Austin Metcalf devastated his family and community, and the jury's verdict represented the culmination of months of legal proceedings. While every defendant has the right to challenge a conviction through the courts, those challenges must ultimately succeed on the law and the facts—not simply on disagreement with the outcome.