The Trial: USA

Karmelo Anthony’s lethal force against Austin Metcalf during a 2025 teenage track meet scuffle was not justified.  That was the finding of the Texas jury in Anthony’s case last week. The same panel sentenced the 19-year-old to 35 years in prison for murder.Yet the conviction remains a topic of intense interest and controversy. It has been framed as a racial injustice by Anthony’s supporters despite testimony from a number of witnesses that he was not in danger. Metcalf, 17, another local athlete, died for nothing and the verdict was deserved, others say.In this episode, James Stainton, a district attorney from another county in the greater Dallas area, breaks down the law and how it applies.   Stainton explains to The Trial: USA’s Kayla Brantley that the jury followed the law. Tune in for this in-depth analysis on Anthony’s case. 

Cartisha Morgan came to CrimeCon in the hopes of bringing attention to the case of her missing daughter and young grandchild, a toddler when she vanished. Morgan believes her daughter Ma’Kayla Wickerson bought into the teachings of a group that police have called a cult before disappearing with the tot from their Missouri home. Another family was at the event to ask to promote their campaign for answers. Christopher Abeyta, a 7-month-old, was stolen from his crib in Colorado Springs nearly 40 years ago. His family, including a niece he never met, wants police to focus on a woman who they believe may have gotten away with the crime. They hope that person can explain what happened to baby Christopher. The episode this week brings you a roundup of these stories and others from the Crime Desk team at CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas. Email us: thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducers: Shayna Jacobs and Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie East

We share in this episode an in-depth conversation with the parents of Kaylee Concalves at CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas where they promoted the “Murder Has a Name” foundation started in their daughter’s honor to help other families find answers with the help of advanced DNA technology.   Steve and Kristi Goncalves also discussed their family’s raw anger at killer Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing and the risk they decided to take to speak their minds unfiltered. ‘These guys need to be treated like the animals that they are,’ Steve Goncalves told the Mail. ‘If you're gonna behave like an animal, treat them like an animal.’ The couple also discusses threats they've faced from supporters of Kohberger and the twisted logic his fans have used to challenge investigative facts, even though his criminal case resulted in Kohberger’s guilty plea last year. Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without parole for the 2022 slayings. Kaylee’s parents say he should have received nothing less than capital punishment.  Join us for Daily Mail US Crime Correspondent Rachel Sharp’s full interview with the Goncalves parents.  Murder Has a Name: https://www.murderhasaname.com/Click here to sign up to The Crime Desk: thecrimedesk.comPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducers: Shayna Jacobs and Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie EastFollow us on TikTok: @DailyMailCrimeEmail us: thetrial@dailymail.comWhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialIt's free and packed with exclusive interviews, expert insight, and gripping deep dive investigations from across the world.

James Stainton spent years working to bring Tanner Horner to justice for abusing and killing a beloved child before callously discarding her remains in rural Texas on November 30, 2022.On this episode, Stainton shares with The Trial: USA’s Kayla Brantley what it was like to shoulder the task of seeking justice for Athena Strand and her devastated family. He also discusses capital punishment and why, as he argued at trial, Horner's actions are why the death penalty exists.Horner was sentenced to execution by lethal injection on May 5 after a five-week jury trial held to determine his fate. He’d previously pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping the first-grader, who was abducted from her family’s sprawling property in Paradise, Texas.Athena’s death devastated her family, friends and community. She inspired a law that enables law enforcement to employ quicker responses to missing children calls by issuing what has become known as an “Athena Alert.” Her family also started a charity in her honor in an effort to share the little girl’s legacy.Athena’s Army: https://asarmy.com/Email us: thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducers: Shayna Jacobs and Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie East

The latest development in the Alex Murdaugh story was a ruling by the highest court in South Carolina reversing his conviction for the 2022 murder of his wife and son.An elected county court clerk was accused of tampering with the jury process by hinting to sitting panelists that Murdaugh was guilty — a stunning betrayal of the public’s trust that the court said denied him a fair trial.The clerk, Rebecca Hill, faced her own investigation and resigned.In this episode, legal expert and retired chief judge of the South Carolina Court of Appeals James Lockemy discusses the Murdaugh reversal with The Trial: USA’s Kayla Brantley.The episode breaks down Hill’s flagrant conduct which included plans for a behind-the-scenes book during the trial.Evidence presented in post-trial proceedings examined how Hill hoped to profit from the publication, which was released six months after the trial but later pulled from circulation.Hill pleaded guilty in December to obstruction of justice and perjury for releasing graphic, sealed crime scene photos to the media and lying about it under oath at a 2024 hearing. The ex-official also admitted to improperly awarding herself cash bonuses.Murdaugh’s increasingly complicated prosecution is now headed toward a retrial. He could also now face the possibility of a death sentence if convicted again.Email us: thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducers: Shayna Jacobs and Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie East

Justice for a joyful little girl who was abducted outside her rural Texas home and murdered by a stranger driving a delivery truck.MaryAnn Martinez, the Daily Mail’s Texas bureau chief, was in the courtroom as a jury sealed the fate of 7-year-old Athena Strand’s killer, Tanner Horner.Athena, a first-grader with an affinity for the outdoors and the color pink, was abused and tortured by Horner, a FedEx driver, before he killed her and callously discarded her tiny frame in a nearby creek on Nov. 30, 2022.A frantic, multi-day search for Athena ensued. The child’s death traumatized her rural community.Horner pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping in April but a jury still had to determine his fate, which in Texas included the possibility of the death penalty. After a five-week trial,Athena’s family watched as the panel found that Horner should be executed by lethal injection.On this episode, Martinez discusses the case with host Kayla Brantley and takes us inside the courtroom for the dramatic last moments of the proceeding.We also learn what is expected to happen next as Horner waits on death row.Email us: thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducers: Shayna Jacobs and Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie East

After two years of legal mudslinging between “Gossip Girl” actress Blake Lively and actor-director Justin Baldoni, a civil trial was set to unfold in New York.The “It Ends With Us” co-stars instead capped their bitter dispute with a settlement deal that ended an ugly and costly two-year public ordeal that battered their reputations.The Trial: USA this week examines the history of the litigation and explains why a last-minute settlement was a likely outcome. Kayla Brantley interviews entertainment and sports attorney Thomas H. Herndon Jr. about the legal drama.In this episode, Herndon Jr. breaks down the legal strategies at play and weighs in on what a trial may have looked like.Email us: thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducer: Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie East

Shots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — just yards from the President of the United States.At one table sat FBI Director Kash Patel.On this episode of The Trial: USA, Kayla Brantley and Daily Mail Associate Editor Wills take you inside the room as the shooting unfolded — including what happened at their table in the moments the chaos began.They walk through the night step by step — from the first sounds of gunfire, to the Secret Service response, to the confusion inside one of Washington’s most high-profile events.We also break down the case against Cole Tomas Allen, who has now appeared in court facing federal charges including the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump.What do we know about his motive?What was revealed in court?And how did he get so close?This is what it was like inside the room.Email us: thetrial@dailymail.com WhatsApp us: +44 7796 657512 Start your message with TrialPresenter: Kayla BrantleyProducer: Lucy RobsonEditor: Chelsey RanoreCreative Director: Caroline CheethamExecutive Producer: Jamie East