Karmelo Anthony’s Text Messages About Disturbing Fantasies Detailed in Court Hearing

Disturbing new details about Karmelo Anthony‘s state of mind before he killed Austin Metcalf were laid out in court this week, as the convicted killer’s defense team fights to overturn his murder conviction.

Anthony, 19, allegedly texted disturbing fantasies just hours before he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Metcalf at a Texas high school track meet, prosecutors revealed during an appeal hearing, the Daily Mail reported on Thursday, August 20.

According to the article, state prosecutor Bill Wirskye pointed to digital exchanges he said exposed Anthony’s history of violence, including a pattern of starting fights. “There is a text message where he fantasizes about stabbing someone and licking the blood off the blade,” Wirskye told the court, per the report.

According to the Daily Mail, Wirskye alleged in court that Anthony’s ex-girlfriend told an assistant principal just hours before the killing that the teen had been stalking her. Wirskye also said a message recovered from Anthony’s phone showed that he had sent his ex-girlfriend a photo of a knife that day along with the words, “I’m lowkey on the verge.”

Per the report, Wirskye also claimed that while the family was living in Baton Rouge, Anthony’s parents enrolled him in an LSU program for children who struggled to “keep their hands to themselves.”

During the appeal hearing, the outlet reported that Wirskye also pointed to a “gentleman’s agreement” between prosecutors and the defense that had kept certain character evidence about both teens out of the original trial, and posed a pointed question to the court: “Why did Anthony bring a knife to a track meet?”

As Globe previously reported, John Roach, the judge who presided over Anthony’s June trial, was removed from the case on Wednesday, August 19, as Anthony’s attorneys pursue a new trial. Anthony was convicted of murder on June 9, 2026, and sentenced to 35 years in prison for Metcalf’s death.

Per the Daily Mail report, defense attorney Russell Wilson plans to introduce 40 exhibits he claims will show Roach ran a “shadow docket” that was “not public at all.”