A 75-page court dossier on Karmelo Anthony reveals never-before-seen photos of the teen killer posing with guns, as well as his racist, homophobic and increasingly violent rhetoric before he murdered Austin Metcalf.
The documents, obtained by the Daily Mail, formed part of the evidence gathered by prosecutors in the case against the now-19-year-old, who was found guilty of fatally stabbing Metcalf, 17, at a high school track meet in Frisco, a suburb north of Dallas, Texas, in April 2025.
The material was never shown to jurors because a controversial ‘gentleman’s agreement‘ saw prosecutors and defense attorneys agree not to present negative evidence from either teenager’s background at trial.
Anthony can be seen shirtless posing with a handgun in a screenshot from a video he recorded in November 2024, five months before the killing.
In another image, taken on May 5, 2024, Anthony is seen holding an AK-47-style rifle while standing alongside three other teenagers. He was 16 at the time.
In a third incident, Anthony took video of himself pointing a gun at a house before running away on January 4, 2025. It is unclear whose home he targeted.
The files are surfacing days after Anthony’s parents made a public plea for more donations after having already raised over $600,000 through online donations prior to his conviction.
During a press conference last week, the killer’s parents insisted they needed more money to help pay for his legal expenses, despite having a team of six lawyers working pro-bono to get him a new trial.
Anthony poses with a handgun in November 2024, five months before the killing
New details about Anthony’s past have been exposed in documents obtained by the Daily Mail, including racist and homophobic rants
In a March 2025 text exchange with his girlfriend, Anthony expressed his dislike for black women, stating ‘they need to go die’
Prosecutors argued the files show Anthony’s long history of violence and an obsession with weapons. The files, which the Daily Mail has confirmed are authentic, also include disturbing text messages sent by Anthony before his arrest.
Among the new files are a shocking series of racist texts that Anthony sent to his girlfriend, Valeria Perez, in March 2025.
Anthony wrote: ‘I f***ing despise black b****es.
‘ahhhh hn I DO NOT LIKE BLACK B****ES.
‘all tht wig glue getting to they f***ing brain’
‘f***ing n***ers’
‘they need to go die.’
Perez has stood by Anthony and continues to date him, sitting with his parents in court during his August court hearing north of Dallas.
She smiled and made prolonged eye contact with her felon boyfriend has he walked into the courtroom shackled.
In a separate rant about gay people in June 2021, Anthony told a friend: ‘These f***ing gay people are f***ing everything up.’
‘This n***a Joe Biden Gay ASB [as balls],’ he continued.
‘I like Trump better not go cap.
‘Like for like his business reasons. Another reason Trump didn’t like gay ppl Biden does. I hate gay ppl.’
In an October 2024 exchange, he told his girlfriend that he would go to jail for burglary after claiming he stole a watch from a neighbor.
‘might gt jail,’ he messaged Perez.
‘shut up don’t say that’ she responded. ‘Don’t do this to me.’
He replied: ‘Burglary is up to a year.’
It is unclear if the burglary took place.
The files show Anthony also bragging about starting fights or being violent. In November 2024, Anthony told his girlfriend he had taken a gun and knife to school.
Just months later, that apparent bravado would take a deadly turn.
On May 5, 2024, Karmelo Anthony posted this photo of himself holding a rifle and three other teenage boys on Instagram, according to a never-before-seen legal file obtained by Daily Mail
Anthony’s 2021 rant about his ‘hate’ for gays spiraled into a political conversation, with the teen calling then President Joe Biden a ‘n***a’ and ‘gay’
Anthony tells the friend he likes Trump more than Biden because ‘Trump didn’t like gay people’
He continues that he ‘likes Trump better’ for ‘business reasons’
Anthony claimed gay people were ‘f***ing everything up,’ in texts sent when he was 14 years old
On April 2, 2025, Anthony got into a confrontation with Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco after Metcalf told him to leave the Memorial High School team tent at the stadium.
The argument quickly became physical, and Anthony pulled a knife and stabbed Metcalf once in the chest. Metcalf collapsed moments later and died from his injuries. Anthony claimed he acted in self-defense.
The trial drew unprecedented national attention and stirred up racial tensions.
Media from across the country camped outside the Collin County Courthouse, while groups including far-right agitators the Proud Boys and the African American organization The Black Panthers staged protests outside.
Both the Metcalf and Anthony families were subjected to countless death threats.
Before the trial, lead prosecutor Bill Wirskye tabled the idea of a ‘gentleman’s deal’ In in an effort to lower the temperature surrounding the case.
Under the non-legally binding agreement, prosecutors would keep Anthony’s past out of the case in exchange for the defense agreeing not to introduce damaging information about Metcalf’s background.
Wirskye said the defense had uncovered a juvenile criminal mischief case involving Metcalf over graffiti, including some that was racist and deeply offensive.
He feared that allowing both sides to air their respective evidence would only inflame an already volatile case, pouring ‘more fuel on the fire.’
Instead, it was agreed that the jury, and by extension the public, would only hear about what happened ‘under the tent’, referring to where the stabbing happened.
Anthony’s defense team went back to court Thursday for an appeal hearing, months after he was found guilty of killing 17-year-old athlete Austin Metcalf with a knife last April
The verbal clash between the teenagers turned deadly Frisco track meet when, as Metcalf leaned in to shove Anthony, Anthony stabbed him through the heart with a folding knife hidden in his backpack
Karmelo Anthony allegedly fantasized about stabbing someone and ‘licking the blood off the blade’ just hours before murdering Austin Metcalf, prosecutors told the court
A photo of the folding knife Karmelo Anthony used to stab Austin Metcalf was released after his June murder trial
Karmelo Anthony pictured with his girlfriend, Valeria Perez. During an explosive hearing on Thursday, lawyers revealed she had broken up with him and felt that he was stalking her, she told high school officials on the day Anthony stabbed Austin Metcalf. Perez is still dating Anthony and attended his August appeal hearings in person
No cameras were allowed inside the courtroom for Anthony’s June murder trial or for the August hearings related to his request to get a new trial
Anthony was ultimately found guilty of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
But Anthony’s conviction was not the end of the case.
In August, his new defense team took their fight for a new trial to court, arguing that a deal struck between prosecutors and Anthony’s original lawyers had denied him of a fair chance at justice.
The two-day hearing offered the first detailed public account of the so-called ‘gentleman’s agreement’ and revealed the evidence that had been kept from the jury.
The public heard allegations that had been deliberately kept out of Anthony’s murder trial, including Austin Metcalf’s history of racist graffiti, racial slurs, bullying and violence, alongside a far more troubling portrait of Anthony himself, including threats, weapons, stalking allegations and messages about stabbing someone.
Among the most striking details to emerge was that, just hours before Anthony killed Metcalf in April 2025, his girlfriend reportedly told an assistant principal that she had tried to end their relationship and that Anthony was stalking her.
A message recovered from Anthony’s phone that day appeared to show him sending her a photograph of a knife alongside the ominous words: ‘I’m lowkey on the verge.’
Neither Anthony’s defense team or his family responded to Daily Mail’s request for comment.
Anthony remains in prison about an hour northeast of Houston, appealing his murder conviction.
In a press conference his week, his lawyers explained the appeals process could take years.
