😱 The Jury Never Saw These 95 Pages: Anthony’s Violent History And Metcalf’s Racist Graffiti Were Buried — Until A New Judge Forced The Secrets Into Court
Seventy-five pages of Karmelo Anthony’s juvenile record sat unused in a prosecutor’s file. Twenty more pages documented Austin Metcalf’s own history of assault, bullying and racist graffiti. Both stacks of paper were deliberately kept from the jury that sent Anthony to prison for 35 years.
Those records exploded into public view Thursday during the teenager’s appeal hearing. A new judge is now deciding whether the first trial was fair after both legal teams agreed to bury the pasts of the killer and the victim.
Anthony, 19, walked into the Collin County courtroom in a suit and tie. His shackles were removed at the defense’s request. His parents sat in the gallery. Valerie Perez, the ex-girlfriend who reported him for stalking the morning of the stabbing, was also there.
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye laid out what the 75-page file contained. On April 2, 2025, the same day he killed Metcalf, Anthony sent Perez a photo of the murder knife and the message “I’m low key on the verge.” Another text threatened her with the blade. A third declared, “When I stab somebody I’m gonna lick their blood off the blade.” He had been obsessed with fights, guns and knives. As a younger boy his parents sent him to a program for children who could not keep their hands to themselves. Perez went to an assistant principal that morning and said he was stalking her after she ended the relationship. She was supposed to testify at trial. The gentleman’s agreement stopped her.
The same agreement stopped the defense from using Metcalf’s 20-page file. Mike Howard, Anthony’s original lawyer, walked the new judge through it. In May 2018 the Metcalf twins were 10 years old. A girl accidentally touched Austin’s face. He shoved her to the ground with both hands. She was taken to hospital with bruises and a painful shoulder. The twins were arrested on assault charges.
Later they were caught spray-painting “KKK kill all blacks” and “Heil Hitler.” They received 12 months of juvenile probation. Metcalf used the N-word freely at school and in private messages. In 2023 he bullied another Black student and was not disciplined. A month before he died he was ordered to stay away from a different Black student he was accused of harassing. Several parents of Memorial High cheerleaders told the court their daughters were afraid of both twins. In December 2024, four months before the stabbing, Metcalf was sent to a church group for people struggling with anger, lust and addiction.
Howard said there were “many incidents on both sides.” The verbal deal existed because both teams feared leaks. Anything written down could end up in the newspapers and destroy the agreement.
The case had already become a racial tinderbox. Wirskye told the court his office was called “woke” for not seeking the death penalty and “racist” for prosecuting a Black teenager. Threats poured in from every direction. “We were afraid that some racist would come into town and take this young man’s life,” he said. Content creators, he added, were trying to “monetize murder and misinformation.”
The original trial judge, John Roach, was recused this week after publicly saying the jury “got it right.” Retired Judge Michael Chitty now has the file. Anthony’s new lawyer, Russell Wilson, plans to introduce 40 exhibits showing closed-door hearings and to call 12 witnesses. He argues the first trial was run on a “shadow docket” that hid too much from the public and from Anthony himself.
The stabbing itself lasted seconds. Anthony sat under the Memorial tent at a track meet. He was told to leave. He reached into a bag and said, “Touch me and see what happens.” Metcalf pushed him. One thrust of a 3.5-inch blade ended the 17-year-old’s life. Anthony immediately surrendered and told officers he had done it.
The first jury never saw the 75 pages or the 20 pages. They never heard about the blood-licking text or the 10-year-old girl shoved to the ground. They never heard that both teenagers had been sent to programs for anger. The agreement was meant to keep the trial from becoming a referendum on race. Instead it created a second trial over whether hiding those records was itself unfair.
Anthony remains in prison. Metcalf is buried. Perez reported a stalker and then watched the man she dated become a convicted killer. The new judge will decide if any of the buried paper is enough to start over. The 75 pages and the 20 pages are no longer secret. They now sit in the middle of a courtroom in Texas, two thick files that were supposed to stay locked away forever.