Newly Revealed Records Are Fueling Karmelo Anthony’s Push for a New Trial After Jurors Never Heard Allegations About Austin Metcalf’s Racist Conduct and Violent Past
Previously withheld records detailing racist graffiti, racial slurs and allegations of violence involving Austin Metcalf surfaced in court as Karmelo Anthony’s attorneys pressed for a new trial in the fatal Texas track-meet stabbing.
Karmelo Anthony’s attempt to overturn his murder conviction has opened the door to evidence jurors never heard about 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, including records alleging racist behavior, bullying and violent incidents before his death.
The information emerged Thursday during a hearing on Anthony’s motion for a new trial, where attorneys began examining an informal agreement between prosecutors and Anthony’s former defense team to keep potentially inflammatory background information about both teenagers away from the jury.
Anthony was convicted in June of murdering Metcalf, who was white, after fatally stabbing him during a confrontation at a Frisco high school track meet in April 2025. A jury rejected Anthony’s claim that he acted in self-defense and sentenced him to 35 years in prison.
CBS News Texas reported that Anthony’s former trial attorney testified about more than 20 pages detailing Metcalf’s behavioral history that were never shown to jurors.
Records Detail Racist Graffiti and Racial Slurs
According to CBS News Texas, records presented during the hearing showed Metcalf and his twin brother were once caught spray-painting racist and antisemitic graffiti.
The graffiti reportedly included “KKK,” a statement calling for Black people to be killed, the N-word and praise for Adolf Hitler. The brothers reportedly received 12 months of juvenile probation stemming from the vandalism.
Records also documented several instances in which Metcalf was accused of using racial slurs at school.
Related: Judge John Roach Removed From Karmelo Anthony Case by Senior San Antonio Judge Sid Harle
In 2023, Metcalf was accused of bullying a Black student in class, according to the records cited by CBS.
The disclosures are particularly notable because the case generated intense racial debate nationwide after Anthony’s arrest. During Anthony’s trial, however, attorneys for both sides told jurors the fatal confrontation was not about race.
Records Include Allegations of Violence Against Girls
The behavioral records also contained allegations unrelated to race.
CBS reported that Metcalf and his brother were accused in 2018, while still in elementary school, of bullying and assaulting a girl. The incident reportedly resulted in Metcalf’s arrest.
In another alleged incident in 2024, Metcalf was accused during an argument with a female student of knocking her to the ground and punching her in the stomach.
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Other disciplinary records described repeated problems involving anger and confrontations.
Metcalf reportedly received counseling on at least five occasions in 2024 involving anger and rage associated with a football game. He was also reportedly removed from another football game and later sent a message saying he had nearly gotten into a fight with other students.
CBS also reported that Metcalf was once suspended after he and another student discussed bringing a gun to school the following day.
At an earlier track meet, records cited in court said another student told Metcalf that someone outside their team was “talking wild” behind the bench. Metcalf reportedly responded with a statement telling the student to kill the person.
Why Jurors Never Heard the Evidence
Anthony’s current attorneys argue that the handling of evidence surrounding both teenagers contributed to an unfair trial.
The Associated Press reported that prosecutors and Anthony’s former defense attorneys had an off-the-record understanding to largely keep the teenagers’ backgrounds out of the case and focus on what occurred immediately before the stabbing.
Anthony’s attorney Russell Wilson told the court Thursday that too much of the case was handled outside the formal court record.
“Everything was done off the record, at an astonishing clip,” Wilson said.
Prosecutor Bill Wirskye has maintained that Anthony received a fair trial and argued that his former attorneys agreed to the procedures being challenged.
The agreement did not solely benefit Metcalf.
Prosecutors also withheld information about Anthony’s history that could have been damaging to his defense.
CBS reported that prosecutors have a roughly 75-page background file on Anthony. Among the allegations discussed Thursday was evidence that Anthony’s former girlfriend had accused him of stalking her after their breakup and that he sent concerning messages shortly before the fatal confrontation.
That evidence was also kept from jurors.
Anthony’s New-Trial Fight Gets New Judge
The hearing comes after Anthony secured another legal victory this week.
State District Judge John Roach Jr., who presided over the murder trial, was removed from handling Anthony’s motion for a new trial after the defense challenged his impartiality.
Anthony’s attorneys cited, among other issues, a television interview Roach gave after the conviction in which he said the jury “got it right.”
Judge Michael Chitty was subsequently assigned to consider Anthony’s request for another trial.
Anthony’s attorneys are challenging several parts of the original proceedings, including courtroom-access restrictions, jury instructions and the circumstances surrounding Anthony’s decision not to testify.
Witnesses at trial testified that Metcalf and other students repeatedly asked Anthony to leave their team’s tent during the track meet. The confrontation escalated, and witnesses said Metcalf pushed Anthony before Anthony pulled a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
Prosecutors argued Anthony provoked the confrontation. Anthony maintained that he acted in self-defense.
The newly revealed information about Metcalf does not itself overturn Anthony’s conviction. Chitty must determine whether the legal and procedural issues raised by Anthony’s attorneys warrant setting aside the verdict and conducting a new trial.
