Karmelo Anthony’s new legal team revealed prosecutors withheld violent texts and a stalking report during a Friday hearing on his motion for a new trial.
The 19-year-old, convicted in June of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf, 17, at a Texas high school track meet, is seeking to overturn his 35-year prison sentence. His appeal hearing in Collin County, Texas, exposed what his attorney Russell Wilson called a “shadow docket” — an unofficial agreement between prosecution and defense that kept damaging evidence about Anthony from jurors while also burying Metcalf’s juvenile criminal record.
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye testified that he offered what he termed a “gentleman’s agreement” to “keep things clean,” Wirskye said from the stand, “I offered the agreement. Let’s stay away from historical character and stick to the facts — what happened under the tent.” The deal meant neither side would introduce evidence about either teenager’s past behavior, a pact Wilson claims corrupted the June proceedings.
What jurors never saw included a 2023 text from Anthony reading, “imma shoot the school up tmr,” according to prosecutors’ testimony Friday. Additional threatening texts, reports of stalking by an ex-girlfriend, and Anthony’s violent tendencies were also excluded. Hours before the fatal stabbing, that ex-girlfriend had told a vice principal that Anthony was stalking her, local outlets reported prosecutors saying. A photo of a knife Anthony sent to the ex-girlfriend was also kept from the jury.
The same agreement prevented Anthony from testifying in his own defense, Wilson argued. Wirskye had accused Anthony’s former defense attorney Mike Howard of breaking their deal when he mentioned Anthony’s grades and chess hobby in opening arguments — which Howard wrote in an affidavit obtained by the Dallas Morning News opened the door to questions about Anthony’s personal life if Anthony took the stand.
In exchange for prosecutors not using Anthony’s violent history, Howard agreed not to introduce Metcalf’s juvenile criminal record. That record included spray-painted graffiti of an upside down cross, the N-word, “KKK,” “Kill all Black people,” and “Heil Hitler,” according to Houston Public Media. Metcalf and his twin brother received 12 months probation for that incident. Photos and video from Metcalf’s phone showed additional slurs and what Houston Public Media reported Howard called a “pervasive picture of a racist outlook.”
Anthony’s history of behavioral problems had apparently driven his parents to send him to a special program at LSU for children with behavioral issues, Friday’s testimony revealed.
Wilson also argued that the June proceedings were marred by strict courtroom rules and improper jury instructions. The attorney grilled Wirskye and Anthony’s former attorneys about their 30-year professional relationship and their unofficial dealings.
In a procedural victory for Anthony, the judge who presided over his original trial was removed from the appeal proceedings on Wednesday. Judge John Roach had given a television interview in which he stated jurors “got it right” when they delivered their guilty verdict, prompting Anthony’s attorneys to seek his removal. Retired District Court Judge Michael Chitty was assigned to consider the motion for a retrial.
In the viral moment that launched the case, Anthony sat under the Memorial High School tent perched in bleachers during a track meet where several schools were competing. Metcalf and others repeatedly told Anthony to leave, witnesses testified, leading to an escalating confrontation that ended with Metcalf fatally stabbed. The April 2024 killing at the Frisco, Texas event became national news, with the subsequent trial drawing intense scrutiny amid racial tensions surrounding the case.
Anthony’s family has reported receiving death threats following the guilty verdict.