Austin Metcalf was 17 years old and running track when Karmelo Anthony put a knife in his chest.
That conviction just got darker.
Prosecutors built a 75-page case against him and made a deal to bury every page of it.
The Backroom Deal That Shaped the Trial
Before the trial began, Anthony's original defense attorneys and prosecutors reached what everyone involved called a "gentleman's agreement."
The deal was simple: both sides would keep damaging character evidence out of the courtroom and focus only on what happened under the tent during the confrontation.
Prosecutors gave up a documented pattern of Anthony threatening people with guns, discussing robberies, and stalking his girlfriend – the same girlfriend who warned school staff about him the very morning he killed Metcalf.
Anthony's attorneys gave up evidence about Metcalf's own troubled history.
And the jury never heard any of it.
What makes this agreement worth examining isn't that both sides made it – it's what prosecutors were holding back while Anthony's team claimed he was an innocent kid acting in self-defense.
What 75 Pages of Evidence Actually Showed
The court filing prosecutors assembled reads like a criminal career in progress – and none of it has been proven true in a courtroom.
Back in December 2023, Anthony allegedly described to his girlfriend, Valeria Torres Perez, exactly what happens when he loses control – he sees red, he blacks out, he can't stop himself.
By May 2024, he had allegedly photographed himself holding a firearm while posing with a group.
That same month, he allegedly told Perez he intended to shoot a woman.
The following month, he allegedly threatened her life directly, asking how many bullets she wanted in her chest.
In November 2024, a video allegedly showed him holding a firearm. Two months later, on January 4, 2025, another video allegedly showed him aiming what looks like a gun at a residential property before running away.
That same January, he allegedly discussed committing robberies. By February, he was suspended for fighting, and on February 19 he allegedly discussed buying a firearm and an extended magazine.
Then, less than a month before Austin Metcalf died, Anthony allegedly sent Torres Perez a message prosecutors say ranks among the most disturbing in the entire file: "imma f—— murder u … yo friends go die."
Six days later, prosecutors say he assaulted her.
Thirteen days after that, he allegedly threatened her with a deadly weapon.
On the morning of April 2, 2025 – hours before he killed Metcalf – Torres Perez went to school staff and reported Anthony was stalking her.
Less than two hours later, he stabbed Austin Metcalf to death at a Frisco, Texas track meet.
The jury convicted him without knowing a single detail from that file.
Why This Evidence Never Reached a Jury
This deal didn't happen in a vacuum.
Metcalf's killing became a national story specifically because of the two teenagers' races. Prosecutor Bill Wirskye later testified the agreement was meant to protect both sides from character evidence entering the public record and potentially tainting the jury pool, in a case already surrounded by racial tension.
That's a polite way of describing what actually got buried: a killer's own words describing how he blacks out with rage, stalks his girlfriend, and threatens to put bullets in her chest – kept out of a courtroom so the case could stay comfortable amid the politics surrounding it.
The Appeal Machine Is Already Running
Anthony's new legal team – pro bono attorneys who took the case after his conviction – tried to get him a new trial, arguing the gentleman's agreement was the reason he didn't take the stand in his own defense.
Judge Michael Chitty reviewed the motion and denied it in August 2026.
The 35-year sentence stands.
Anthony's team is already appealing to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, with a legal fund established and the process expected to stretch into 2027.
Here's what they're hoping the appellate court will focus on – the very details the original jury never heard.
Here's what they'd rather everyone forget – the jury convicted him anyway, without needing a single page of that file.
Justice Served, Circus Continues
Jeff Metcalf – Austin's father – watched his son get killed at a track meet and sat through a trial where prosecutors voluntarily kept their strongest evidence in a drawer.
He got a 35-year conviction, and he said it wasn't enough. He wanted life.
He's not wrong to feel that way.
Anthony was 17 at the time of the killing and tried as an adult. Two teenagers had a confrontation under a tent, and one of them drove a knife into the other's chest. That was enough to convict him – no backroom deal changes it, and no appeal will erase it.
Sources:
- Greg Wehner, "Karmelo Anthony photographed with guns as docs reveal alleged history of rage, threats and violence," Fox News, September 8, 2026.
- Kyle Becker, "Karmelo Anthony's History of Alleged Violence Laid Bare in Stunning Court Docs Kept From the Jury," RedState, September 8, 2026.
- "Secret 'Gentleman's Agreement' Exposes Evidence Karmelo Anthony Jury Never Heard," LA Mag, August 2026.
- "Texas judge denies Karmelo Anthony's bid for new trial after ex-lawyers detail dispute that kept him from testifying," Fox News, August 22, 2026.
- "Karmelo Anthony seeks new murder trial citing courtroom access, evidence concerns," Fox 4 News, August 21, 2026.
- "Karmelo Anthony's parents and defense team push forward with appeal," Fox 4 News, September 3, 2026.
