A new court filing from Karmelo Anthony’s legal team claims a collapsed behind-the-scenes agreement with prosecutors deprived him of a fair trial and warrants a new one.
The 19-year-old was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison for killing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet in Collin County, Texas, in 2025.
Anthony’s legal team claimed he acted in self-defense.
According to the motion, obtained by WFAA, the defense says the parties reached an “unrecorded evidentiary agreement” before trial that later collapsed, forcing a last-minute change in trial strategy.
The Offer on the Table
Anthony’s former attorney, Mike Howard, claimed the prosecution approached him with a proposal on May 5, 2026, a few weeks before the trial. Under the agreement, neither side would call any witnesses who might damage Anthony’s or Metcalf’s reputations.
The proposed agreement also limited both the defense and prosecution to witnesses whose testimony focused on the day of the incident, or “what happened under the tent.” In Howard’s view, that meant Anthony would have the opportunity to testify.
“We agreed that the best way to document such an agreement would be for the defense to draft and file a motion in limine” — a pretrial request to the court to limit prejudicial evidence that a jury can hear — the filing said. The teams submitted the motion on May 8, 2026.
The attorneys met again on May 11 to discuss the proposed agreement with the judge. During that time, lead prosecutor Bill Wirskye agreed the deal would also cover the sentencing phase.
Howard told Wirskye that he needed to speak with Anthony and his family before they could reach a final agreement. Wirskye then reiterated that he did not want one of the defense’s witnesses to attack the Metcalf twins’ characters.
One of those witnesses was Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes. Under the agreement, Wirskye said Hayes was limited to a brief plea for mercy during the sentencing phase, saying something to the effect of, “I love my son; please show him mercy.”
Switching Strategies
The agreement was eventually reached and hand-delivered to Judge Joe Roach Jr. on the opening day of the trial.
Howard says he switched several strategies due to the agreement, including not introducing several statements witnesses gave to police when Austin was killed.
If presented, the evidence would have painted a better picture of why Anthony acted out of self-defense, according to Howard.
“The defense intended to cross-examine each Memorial student witness the prosecution called about Austin and Hunter Metcalf’s character and reputation for violence, for being bullies, and for racism,” the filing said.
Students described the twins as being easily “triggered,” “having a loudmouth,” being “passionate,” and not allowing themselves to be “disrespected.
The court filing also claimed the twin brothers had been arrested for racist graffiti. Atlanta Black Star has yet to find more information about this claim.
Possible Violation
During the trial, the prosecution wrapped up its presentation sooner than Howard expected. He told Wirskye that he would likely have to call Anthony to testify early because certain witnesses would not be available.
“Mr. Wirskye was well aware of at least the possibility of Mr. Anthony testifying in order to argue self-defense,” the filing said.
Then the next day, things changed.
Wirskye argued Anthony shouldn’t testify because Howard had violated the agreement during his opening argument by saying he was a “member of the chess club.”
Howard noted that prosecutors did not raise the alleged violation until days later, after they learned that Anthony was prepared to take the stand.
“Mr. Anthony was obviously a witness to ‘what happened under the tent,’ by the plain meaning of the language Mr. Wirskye repeatedly used,” Howard said.
Judge John Roach Jr. disagreed with Wirskye’s claim that Howard violated the agreement. After a 10-minute cool-off period, attorneys met in open court to discuss the parameters of the agreement for Anthony’s testimony, the appeal filing said.
“I resolved that my only choice was to go over my planned outline of Mr. Anthony’s direct examination line by line with Mr. Wirskye to determine what would and what would not, in Mr. Wirskye’s view, open the door,” Howard stated in the filing.
Complete Breakdown
Judge Roach told attorneys he had no way to enforce the agreement and saw no path for Anthony to testify without “opening the door” to questions about his reputation.
Howard claims the judge gave him only 10 minutes to discuss the matter with Anthony before he had to decide whether to testify.
“I asked for additional time to have such a complicated discussion with a 19-year-old in the most stressful situation of his life,” Howard said. “We did our best to explain everything.”
Howard said the state’s claim that the defense breached the agreement ultimately led to Anthony not testifying and forced his team to change its entire trial strategy. By the time the issue was raised, it was too late to redo key parts of the case, including jury selection, opening statements, or the questions they planned to ask witnesses.
In a statement to WFAA, Wirskye, without making specific rebuttals, disputed the claims Howard made in the filing.
“The entire prosecution team and I conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s rulings and any agreements with defense counsel. We look forward to addressing these claims thoroughly in our written response, which will be filed with the Court in the coming weeks.”
The dispute over the agreement is now headed into the post-trial phase, with a new judge assigned to oversee Anthony’s motions. The new judge will determine whether Judge John Roach should remain involved in the case as the defense seeks a new trial.
Anthony’s family created a website that serves as a hub for information about Karmelo’s case in an effort to combat misinformation.
