Newly Revealed Documents Detail Karmelo Anthony’s Messages, Gun Photos and Evidence Jurors Never Saw

Karmelo Anthony poses with a handgun in November 2024.Collin County

Newly surfaced documents are shedding light on evidence involving Karmelo Anthony that was kept from the jury during his murder trial — including photographs of him posing with firearms, private messages containing racist and homophobic language, and exchanges prosecutors later cited while describing his behavior before the fatal confrontation with Austin Metcalf.

The material appears in a 75-page dossier obtained and reported on by the Daily Mail and subsequently detailed by other outlets. According to those reports, prosecutors and Anthony’s defense had agreed before trial not to introduce the material, in exchange for the defense not raising parts of Metcalf’s juvenile history.

Anthony, now 19, was convicted of murder in June 2026 for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Metcalf during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas, on April 2, 2025. A Collin County jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison after rejecting his self-defense argument.

Photos and videos involving firearms

Karmelo Anthony took this photo of himself holding a rifle and three other teens boys on May 5, 2024.Collin County

Among the newly reported material are images dating back months before the killing.

One screenshot reportedly comes from a video Anthony recorded in November 2024 and shows him holding a handgun.

Another photograph, dated May 5, 2024, shows Anthony — then 16 — holding what was described as an AK-47-style rifle while posing alongside three other teenagers.

A third piece of footage, reportedly recorded on January 4, 2025, allegedly shows Anthony pointing a firearm toward a residence before running away. The reporting does not establish whose property appears in the video.

The documents also contain private conversations in which Anthony allegedly discussed weapons.

In a November 2024 exchange with his girlfriend, Valeria Perez, he reportedly claimed he had brought a gun and a knife to school.

A separate message from October 2024 allegedly referred to breaking into a neighbor’s home and taking a watch, with Anthony telling Perez that he “might gt [go to] jail.”

Private messages contained racist and homophobic language

Anthony expressed hatred for black and gay people over text messages.Collin County

The dossier also reportedly contains messages in which Anthony used racist language about other Black people.

About a week before Metcalf’s death, Anthony allegedly sent Perez a series of messages expressing hostility toward Black women and Black people more broadly. The exchanges included racial slurs and statements wishing death on others.

Older messages included in the documents reportedly contain homophobic language as well.

In a June 2021 conversation with a friend, Anthony complained about gay people using derogatory language. He also made a homophobic remark about then-President Joe Biden, according to the dossier.

The newly disclosed messages provide additional context about Anthony’s private communications in the years and months preceding the track-meet confrontation. They were not, however, evidence that jurors were asked to consider when deciding whether he was guilty of murder.

Prosecutor said Anthony was “spiraling”

A text exchange shows Karmelo Anthony expressing his dislike for Black women in March 2025.Collin County

Some of the previously unseen material had already emerged publicly during proceedings surrounding Anthony’s attempt to obtain a new trial.

At an August hearing, Collin County Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye said Perez spoke to an assistant principal on April 2, 2025 — the same day Metcalf was killed — after she and Anthony had broken up.

According to Wirskye, Perez reported that Anthony had been stalking her and described him as increasingly preoccupied with fights, guns and knives.

The prosecutor also said Anthony sent Perez a photograph of a knife accompanied by the message: “I’m low key on the verge.”

“He was spiraling,” Wirskye told the court.

Those allegations were among the pieces of information that had not been presented to the jury at Anthony’s trial.

Why the jury never saw the evidence

Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, was stabbed in the chest by 17-year-old Anthony on May 2, 2025.Meghan Prall Metcalf/Facebook

The absence of the material was not accidental.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys had reached an agreement governing what each side could introduce at trial.

According to Wirskye, prosecutors agreed not to present the evidence concerning Anthony’s prior conduct and communications. In return, the defense agreed not to introduce Metcalf’s juvenile history, which the prosecutor said included graffiti containing racist material.

The arrangement has since become significant in Anthony’s post-conviction legal fight.

His new legal team has challenged aspects of how the original trial was handled, including arguments concerning his decision not to testify. Anthony sought a new trial following his conviction, but that request was denied. His attorneys have continued pursuing an appeal.

What happened at the Frisco track meet

Anthony and Metcalf were both 17 when they encountered each other at a district track meet at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco on April 2, 2025.

They attended different schools and, according to reporting on the trial, did not know one another before the confrontation.

Witness testimony established that the dispute began after Anthony was under the Memorial High School team tent and was asked to leave.

Accounts presented at trial included testimony that Metcalf approached and pushed Anthony. A witness said Anthony then pulled a knife from his backpack and stabbed Metcalf.

Anthony acknowledged stabbing Metcalf but maintained that he acted in self-defense.

Prosecutors rejected that account, portraying the incident as murder. After hearing testimony during the trial, jurors ultimately agreed with the prosecution and found Anthony guilty.

Anthony sentenced to 35 years

The same jury sentenced Anthony to 35 years in prison on June 9, 2026.

The punishment range available to jurors stretched from five to 99 years or life. Anthony will become eligible for parole after serving half of his 35-year sentence.

Metcalf’s relatives delivered emotional victim-impact statements following sentencing, describing the continuing effect of losing the 17-year-old.

His twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, spoke directly to Anthony about losing not only his brother but also his closest friend, while his mother, Meghan Metcalf, described the everyday reminders of her son’s absence.

Anthony filed a notice of appeal shortly after his conviction and sentence.

Family seeks money for appeal

Anthony’s family is now attempting to raise money to finance the continuing legal challenge.

A fundraiser seeks approximately $250,000 for his appeal following the rejection of his request for a new trial. As of a September 2 report, roughly $27,000 had been collected through that campaign.

His family had previously raised more than $600,000 through a separate fundraiser intended for legal and relocation expenses, according to the same report. That campaign was removed following Anthony’s conviction.

The newly disclosed dossier does not change the verdict already returned by the Collin County jury. But its contents offer a much broader picture of material surrounding Anthony that jurors never heard as they considered the confrontation that ended Metcalf’s life — and the self-defense argument Anthony relied upon at trial.