On Tuesday, a jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony of murder in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas track meet in April 2025. Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison. On Wednesday, his legal team filed a notice of appeal.

The appeal will center in part on whether Black jurors were improperly removed from the case. The jury that convicted Anthony was all white. Dallas-based appellate attorney David Coale confirmed the appeal would examine how the jury was selected. "What stuck out to me, No. 1, was the all-White jury," Anthony's father Andrew Anthony said.

The removal of jurors on the basis of race is prohibited under Batson v. Kentucky, a 1986 Supreme Court ruling that established the constitutional floor for equal protection in jury selection. Whether that floor was respected in this case is a legitimate legal question, and it deserves a serious answer, not just in the appellate process, but through an independent review of jury selection practices in Collin County more broadly.

That review matters beyond this case. Texas has documented racial disparities in jury composition across multiple counties. A single appeal addresses one trial. A systemic review addresses the conditions that produce racially unrepresentative juries in the first place.

Meanwhile, both families are living under threat. Andrew Anthony said, "People want us dead. After they still got what they wanted, they still want us dead." Jeff Metcalf, Austin's father, reported receiving a death threat the day after the verdict and multiple threatening messages the following morning. Both families have been subjected to harassment, threats, and alarming contact throughout this case.

That is unacceptable regardless of where anyone stands on the verdict.

We are calling for two things. First: the Texas judiciary, the State Bar of Texas, or the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division should conduct an independent review of jury selection in the Anthony trial and examine whether Collin County's jury selection practices comply with constitutional requirements. Second: federal law enforcement must investigate the death threats against both the Anthony family and the Metcalf family and provide appropriate protective resources to both.

This case has caused enormous pain for everyone involved. "It's unfortunate," Andrew Anthony said. "It's where nobody wins. We've all been hurt by this. Everybody, everyone."

The least the system can do is make sure the process that produced this outcome was fair, and that neither family has to fear for their lives in its aftermath.

Sign to demand an independent review of jury selection and federal protection for both families.