Fired CNN host Don Lemon is back again wringing his hands over convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony, and he wants you to feel sorry for the teenager who stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in the heart at a high school track meet.
A Texas judge on Saturday denied Anthony’s motion for a new trial, leaving his murder conviction and 35-year prison sentence intact.
Anthony was convicted in June of murdering 17-year-old Austin during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas, on April 2, 2025.
Austin died in the arms of his twin brother, Hunter.
But Lemon appears far more troubled by the consequences facing the convicted killer than by the permanent sentence Anthony imposed on Austin and his devastated family.
Lemon said:
“Breaking—and it is complicated, so make sure you pay attention. Karmelo Anthony is not getting a new trial, and after what came out in court last week, I have questions.
“We learned there was a private, off-the-record agreement to keep the troubled youths’ backgrounds—both teenagers—away from the jury.
“Austin Metcalf had allegations involving racial slurs, bullying, and assault. Karmelo had allegations involving threatening texts, stalking, and assault. None of that came in.
“And Karmelo’s former lawyer says that they had planned to put him on the stand, but all of this helped change that decision.
“So now the defense says the first trial was too controlled, too secretive, and unfair. The judge said no. Thirty-five years still stands.
“And I’m still stuck on one thing: He was 17. Seventeen years old. And now he could spend most of his life in prison. That is a hell of a sentence for a teenager.”
WATCH:
What Lemon conveniently glossed over is that Austin was also 17 years old—and Austin will never graduate, build a career, marry, or start a family.
Anthony was not sentenced to 35 years simply because he got into trouble as a teenager. A jury convicted him of murder after witnesses testified that he refused repeated demands to leave another school’s team tent, provoked the confrontation, and stabbed Austin in the chest.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, the jury rejected Anthony’s self-defense argument and returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for just over two hours.
Even a witness called by the defense admitted under cross-examination that “Karmelo was in the wrong” and provoked the confrontation.
The recent hearing revealed that prosecutors and defense attorneys had an informal agreement to focus the trial on what happened beneath the Memorial High School tent and keep allegations about both teenagers’ prior conduct away from the jury.
Anthony’s appellate attorneys argued that the arrangement and courtroom-access restrictions deprived him of a fair trial and affected the defense team’s decision not to call him to testify.
Retired Kaufman County District Judge Michael Chitty rejected those arguments and refused to disturb the jury’s verdict.
The hearing also exposed deeply disturbing evidence about Anthony that jurors never heard.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Collin County prosecutor Bill Wirskye described messages in which Anthony allegedly obsessed over guns, knives, fighting, and stabbing someone before licking the blood from the blade.
Anthony’s former girlfriend also reportedly told school officials on the morning of Austin’s murder that she had ended their relationship and that Anthony was stalking her. Roughly one hour later, Austin was dead.
Anthony was facing up to 99 years behind bars. He received 35 years and, as The Gateway Pundit previously noted, may become eligible for parole after serving half of that sentence under Texas law.
The post SICK! Don Lemon Whines After Judge Refuses to Give Convicted Killer Karmelo Anthony a Do-Over — “He Was 17!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.