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Judge John Roach Jr., the presiding judge of the 296th District Court, poses for a photo with his Boykin Spaniel named Justice in his courtroom in the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, TX, Friday, June 12, 2026. Roach presided over the Karmelo Anthony murder trial.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Judge John Roach Jr.<\/a>, the veteran Collin County judge who presided over the closely watched Karmelo Anthony murder trial<\/a> that ended in a guilty verdict this week, believes the teen received a fair trial and hopes the families believe justice was served.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an interview Friday with The Dallas Morning News, Roach offered a behind-the-scenes look into a trial that drew widespread misinformation<\/a>,\u00a0waves of racist rhetoric<\/a> and sparked intense protests<\/a> outside the courthouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n Months in the making<\/p>\n Long before opening statements<\/a> began June 4, Roach began preparing for what would become one of the most closely watched trials of his career.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At a rainy high school track meet in Frisco last April, Karmelo Anthony fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf in the chest. Both were 17. Metcalf died in his twin brother\u2019s arms, surrounded by fellow student-athletes and coaches.<\/p>\n The jury convicted Anthony of murder on Tuesday and sentenced him<\/a> to 35 years in prison. The case ignited a racially charged debate<\/a>, bringing high-tension protests to the Collin County\u00a0courthouse almost every day of the five-day trial. Anthony is Black. Metcalf was white.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Roach, the presence of so many teenage witnesses shaped his approach. It raised a central concern that guided many pre-trial decisions: protection.<\/p>\n \u201cA major group of people I wanted to protect are the students who witnessed this tragedy,\u201d Roach said. \u201cHow do I isolate those kids, so we don’t have to make this tragic event more tragic than it already was?\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n With two decades on the bench and nearly 40,000 cases handled, Roach said his experience prepared him for the demands of this trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: TDCJ parole supervisor fired after viral comment on Karmelo Anthony’s case<\/a><\/p>\n One of the first steps was issuing a gag order, which prohibited public statements about the case outside of the courtroom. He also prohibited journalists from publishing the names of juvenile witnesses.<\/p>\n Roach implemented other rules, including limiting the number of seats in the courtroom for media and sticking with his longstanding practice of not allowing cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cWatching court cases on TV, you can tell that cameras change people, that makes them nervous,\u201d Roach said. \u201cThey make people act differently, and that includes the judge, it includes the lawyers, it includes the witnesses and everybody else surrounding it.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Inside the jury and the courtroom \u00a0<\/p>\n As lawyers winnowed the pool of 600 potential jurors down to the 12-person panel that would decide the case, they wound up with a jury that included no Black people, sparking criticism<\/a> from Anthony’s defense team and observers. Roach had sided with the prosecution when they moved to strike three Black jurors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI really didn\u2019t pay attention to it, because that\u2019s not the job, to manufacture some look or makeup of a jury, but I thought it was a good cross section of Collin County,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n