- Victim had history of racist behavior and violence, but was portrayed as innocent
- Defendant had alleged aggression and troubling communications, but self-defense claim not fully considered
- Court must now determine if excluding this evidence led to an unfair trial
The Karmelo Anthony case just got a whole lot messier, because the retrial hearing is dragging some seriously ugly receipts into the light.
According to CBS News Texas, attorneys are now unpacking previously hidden background records involving both Anthony and Austin Metcalf, the 17-year-old Anthony was convicted of fatally stabbing during a 2025 high school track meet. Those records were kept away from the original jury after prosecutors and defense attorneys reached an agreement to keep the trial focused on the confrontation itself. Now, that decision is being revisited as Anthony fights for a new trial and the 20-plus pages detailing Austin’s history are raising some uncomfortable questions about the carefully polished image presented to the public.
Austin and his twin brother Hunter Metcalf were previously caught spray-painting racist and antisemitic graffiti, including “KKK kill all blacks,” “Heil Hitler,” and the N-word. The brothers received 12 months of juvenile probation and reportedly admitted they had done “some dumb stuff” and vandalized property.
But clearly, the racist graffiti was not an isolated teenage lapse in judgment. School records reportedly document multiple instances of Austin using racial slurs. In 2023, he was accused of bullying a Black student at school. In 2018, Austin and Hunter were accused of bullying and assaulting a female student, an incident that resulted in Austin’s arrest. Then, in 2024, Austin allegedly knocked another female student to the ground and punched her in the stomach.
There were also documented anger issues and threats of violence. After getting kicked out of a football game, Austin reportedly texted that he was about to “beat” other kids. At another track meet, when someone said a student was talking wild behind the team’s bench, Austin reportedly responded, “Kill that mf.” He reportedly met with a counselor at least five times in 2024 over anger and rage during football games. He was also suspended after discussing bringing a gun to school.
But the hearing isn’t simply exposing Metcalf family secrets. Prosecutors also presented a disturbing 75-page file on Karmelo Anthony. His records allegedly include a history of aggression, an obsession with knives and troubling communications with his ex-girlfriend, Valerie Perez. Perez reportedly told school officials Anthony was stalking her and refusing to accept their breakup. On the morning of the fatal confrontation, Anthony allegedly sent her a photo of a knife along with an alarming message.
So now the court is staring at a case where the jury never got to see the full backgrounds of either teenager. That doesn’t erase Austin’s death or automatically prove Anthony’s self-defense claim. But it does raise a very serious question, did keeping all of this evidence away from the jury actually produce a fair trial? That’s the question the new judge now has to answer.