Previously unseen allegations surfaced during Karmelo Anthony’s hearing for a new trial.
Karmelo Anthony ; Austin Metcalf. Credit : Frisco Police Department; Gofundme
Frisco Police Department; Gofundme
Karmelo Anthony’s ex-girlfriend reported that he was stalking her the morning he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf
Anthony allegedly sent her a pH๏τograph of a knife and wrote that he was “lowk on the verge”
The evidence was withheld from Anthony’s murder trial under an informal agreement between prosecutors and his defense attorneys
Karmelo Anthony’s ex-girlfriend reported that he was stalking her and received a disturbing text from him on the same morning that he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf.
The allegations emerged Thursday, Aug. 20, during a hearing on Anthony’s request for a new trial, according to courtroom coverage from WFAA, FOX 4 and KERA.
Anthony’s ex-girlfriend told a school administrator on April 2, 2025, that Anthony was stalking her and refusing to allow her to end their relationship, WFAA reported, citing Collin County ᴀssistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye’s comments in court.
That same morning, Anthony sent her a text that read, “im lowk on the verge,” according to the outlet.
FOX 4 reported that the message was accompanied by a pH๏τograph of a knife.
WFAA also reported that another message Anthony sent to his girlfriend stated, “Imma stab someone and lick the blood off the blade.”
The outlet did not specify when that message was sent.
Karmelo Anthony. Credits: Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Less than two hours after the young woman allegedly told an ᴀssistant principal that she feared Anthony and that he would not take no for an answer, Anthony stabbed Metcalf in the chest during a confrontation beneath a tent at a Frisco, Texas, high school track meet, KERA reported.
Anthony and Metcalf were both 17 at the time.
Anthony, now 19, admitted stabbing Metcalf but maintained that he acted in self-defense after Metcalf confronted and shoved him.
A jury rejected that argument, convicting Anthony of murder in June and sentencing him to 35 years in prison.
Wirskye testified Thursday that the evidence concerning Anthony was withheld under an informal agreement between prosecutors and his trial attorneys, according to WFAA, FOX 4 and KERA.
The agreement excluded potentially inflammatory character evidence about both Anthony and Metcalf and focused the trial on what happened beneath the tent.
Prosecutors possessed material they said showed Anthony’s interest in guns, knives and fighting.
The defense had evidence of Metcalf’s history of fighting and an offense report involving racist and antisemitic graffiti.
Anthony’s trial attorney, Mike Howard, testified that the graffiti included “KKK,” “Kill all Black people,” the N-word and “Heil Hitler,” according to KERA.
Anthony’s new lawyers argue that the off-the-record agreement and restrictions on public access to the proceedings violated his consтιтutional rights.
They also claim that a dispute over the agreement contributed to his decision not to testify without risking questions about the excluded material.
Thursday’s hearing came one day after Judge John Roach Jr., who presided over Anthony’s trial, was removed from the post-trial proceedings.
Anthony’s lawyers sought Roach’s recusal after the judge gave a television interview shortly after the verdict and said the jury “got it right,” per earlier PEOPLE reporting.
Retired Kaufman County Judge Michael Chitty is now overseeing Anthony’s request for a new trial.
Any order granting the request must be signed by Monday under Texas’ 75-day ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, KERA reported.
