Hidden Threat Texts Explode Murder Case

Media equipment and journalists outside a courthouse

Karmelo Anthony once warned in a text message that he would “shoot the school up,” and the jury that convicted him of murder never heard a word of it.

Story Snapshot

Prosecutors revealed a 2023 text threat during an August 2026 hearing on Anthony’s bid for a new trial.
The threat, plus texts about stabbing someone and licking blood off a blade, was kept from jurors under a secret “gentleman’s agreement.”
Anthony was convicted of murdering Texas student Austin Metcalf in June 2026 and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Anthony’s own legal team now argues that secrecy deal violated his right to a fair, open trial.

A Threat Jurors Never Saw

Prosecutor Bill Wirskye told the court that Anthony sent a text in 2023 reading, “Imma shoot the school up tmr,” and mentioned a gun using slang. Anthony later walked it back, writing “I would never” and “actually do that.” That exchange never reached the jury that decided his fate in the Austin Metcalf stabbing case. It surfaced only now, during a hearing on whether Anthony deserves a second trial.

More Violent Messages Come To Light

Wirskye also described texts in which Anthony wrote, “I’m lowkey on the verge,” and another saying that when he stabbed somebody, he would “lick their blood off the blade.” Separately, Anthony’s ex-girlfriend reportedly told a school official the morning of the killing that he had been stalking her and had threatened her with a knife. None of it was presented at trial.

Court coverage from the hearing described this as part of a much larger pile of background evidence on both Anthony and Metcalf that stayed locked away from the twelve people deciding the murder charge. Jurors were told only what happened “under the tent” at the track meet where Metcalf died, without the fuller history prosecutors say they had gathered on Anthony beforehand.

The Secret Deal That Shaped the Trial

The reason none of it reached the jury traces back to what witnesses called a “gentleman’s agreement.” Anthony’s original defense team and prosecutors reportedly struck an informal understanding to keep character evidence about both teenagers out of the courtroom entirely. The deal never appeared in any public filing or court order. It simply happened behind closed doors before the trial even began.

Former defense attorney Mike Howard testified that “all of the extraneous incidents in motions were covered by the agreement,” confirming the arrangement stretched across a wide range of damaging material on both sides. That testimony came during the same hearing where Anthony’s current lawyers are fighting for a fresh trial, arguing the secrecy itself was unfair to their client.

Why Anthony’s Own Lawyers Want a Do-Over

The twist is that Anthony’s new legal team is not defending the old agreement. They are attacking it, claiming the closed-door deal and limited courtroom access denied Anthony a constitutional right to a fair and open trial. That argument, ironically, is what forced all this damaging evidence into public view months after the guilty verdict already stood.

What the Law Says About Hiding a Defendant’s Past

Courts generally block “prior bad act” evidence when it only proves someone has a bad character, but they allow it when it shows motive, intent, or state of mind tied directly to the crime charged. A pattern of violent threats and stalking claims tied to the same relationship and same week as a stabbing looks a lot closer to relevant motive than mere character mudslinging.

Cutting a private deal to erase that context from a jury’s view is not how the justice system is supposed to work. Juries deserve the full picture, not a version negotiated in a back room to spare both families embarrassment. A killing at a high school track meet demands transparency, not a handshake agreement that only surfaces after sentencing.

Breaking News: Karmelo Anthony told his girlfriend he had thoughts of stabbing someone and licking the blood off the knife prior to stabbing to death Austin Metcalf.https://t.co/kYiAI5KGaG

— WhiteSharks Uncle (@WhiteSharkg6xh) August 22, 2026

Anthony is already serving a 35-year sentence for Metcalf’s murder. Whether a judge grants him a new trial now depends on whether the secrecy that once protected him from these disturbing texts becomes the very argument that unravels his conviction.