Austin Metcalf was once suspended from school over an alleged plan to bring a gun to campus, according to evidence Karmelo Anthony’s defense wanted jurors to see before they convicted him of murder.
The allegation was part of a much larger collection of school records, police reports, videos and messages that Anthony’s attorneys argued showed Austin had a long history of aggression and an obsession with fighting.
Messages between Austin and his twin brother, Hunter, also allegedly show the brothers talking about wanting to beat up other children after getting kicked out of a football game because the kids were “talking crazy.”
It’s a phrase that would take on new significance after Austin’s death. Hunter later used strikingly similar language to describe Karmelo Anthony before the deadly confrontation, saying Anthony had been “talking crazy.”
Anthony was convicted in June of murdering 17-year-old Austin during an April 2, 2025, track meet and sentenced to 35 years in prison. A judge denied Anthony’s request for a new trial last week, and his legal team is preparing to appeal.
But recent post-trial hearings have pulled back the curtain on evidence attorneys fought over before trial, including extensive material Anthony’s original defense team believed could have strengthened his claim of self-defense.
Atlanta Black Star obtained a motion filed by Anthony’s original attorneys outlining dozens of pieces of evidence they wanted jurors to consider.
Jurors never saw it because of a gentleman’s agreement between the prosecution and defense.
Austin’s Alleged Gun Plan
Among the school disciplinary records cited by the defense was an incident in which Austin was allegedly suspended for planning to bring a gun to school.
The filing places that episode among years of disciplinary problems and alleged aggressive behavior involving the Metcalf twins.
The defense also cited messages between Austin and Hunter following an incident at a football game.
According to the filing, officials kicked the brothers out after Austin pushed another player and yelled at a referee.
Austin allegedly said afterward that he was about to “beat the sh–t out of” other children because they were “talking crazy.”
That wording stands out because Hunter later reportedly used the phrase “talking crazy” when describing Anthony’s behavior during the confrontation that ended with Austin’s death.
The defense argued that evidence involving both brothers was important because Hunter was present during the confrontation.
The filing contends Hunter was the initial aggressor and Austin joined his brother in confronting Anthony.
The motion also notes that Austin and Hunter each weighed about 210 pounds, compared with Anthony at about 140 pounds.
An Obsession With Fighting
The evidence cited by Anthony’s attorneys also paints a picture of Austin as a teenager deeply interested in fighting, and sometimes recording the violence himself.
According to the defense motion, Austin followed several social media accounts devoted to fights.
Videos allegedly recovered from his phone showed him participating in fights, threatening people, humiliating other children and recording confrontations.
In one video, Austin allegedly fights another person while wearing boxing gloves. Another allegedly shows him bare-knuckle fighting someone in his room while another person counts down.
Another video allegedly shows Austin announcing that he was going to slap two people before doing it.
The defense also identified footage allegedly showing Austin choking another child in a weight room.
In another disturbing video described in the motion, Austin allegedly grabs a child’s face and repeatedly shoves it into his crotch.
The filing also cites a photograph of Austin holding a butterfly knife with the message, “come f–k with me now.”
And Austin had previously faced an assault allegation that resulted in his arrest.
According to the filing, authorities arrested Austin for assault causing bodily injury in 2018 after he allegedly shoved a female classmate to the ground. The girl suffered a shoulder injury that required hospital treatment.
Black Students Allegedly Targeted
Some of the most troubling evidence cited by the defense involved Black students.
A March 24, 2022, video allegedly recovered from Austin’s phone shows him laughing at and filming a Black student before hitting the student in the face, according to the motion.
Another video allegedly shows Austin throwing a water bottle at a Black student.
In November 2024, Austin allegedly recorded himself using his hand to imitate a gun and pointing it at the back of a Black person’s head.
The defense also alleged that Austin bullied a Black student in 2023 and used racial slurs.
Those allegations were not isolated from other evidence attorneys wanted jurors to consider.
The motion describes a graffiti incident involving the phrases “KKK kill all black people” and “Heil Hitler,” along with racial slurs.
According to the filing, Austin told police they had done “some dumb stuff” and “some vandalism.” The filing says Austin and Hunter received 12 months of probation through the Denton County Community Supervision and Corrections Department in connection with the incident.
The defense also cited messages in which Austin allegedly used the N-word, including a Snapchat group chat conversation on April 1, 2025, one day before his fatal confrontation with Anthony.
Years of Trouble
School records cited in the motion document other behavioral problems involving Austin, including profanity toward teachers and leaving class without permission.
In December 2023, Austin allegedly slammed his desk and became angry during a verbal confrontation with another student.
By late 2024 and early 2025, a school support coordinator was documenting conversations with Austin about anger and rage, according to the filing.
Those sessions included discussions about anger management, conflict resolution and emotional regulation.
The defense also cited a 2024 incident involving Austin, Hunter and Sadie Sevak.
Sevak’s parents told police that Austin knocked her to the ground and punched her in the stomach. Police noted conflicting accounts and a lack of physical evidence, according to the filing.
Her parents ultimately declined to pursue criminal charges, and police closed the case for informational purposes.
Another piece of evidence involved an alarming photograph dated Dec. 24, 2024.
The defense filing says the image shows either Austin or Hunter aggressively grabbing their mother by the throat. The filing does not identify which twin appears in the photograph.
Hunter’s disciplinary history stretched back even further. Attendance records cited by the defense from 2014 through 2022 show Hunter received suspensions every year for seven consecutive years.
Taken together, Anthony’s attorneys argued that the records could have given jurors a substantially different picture of the brothers and provided important context for determining who initiated the confrontation.
Prosecutors Had Evidence Compelling Against Anthony
The defense was not alone in seeking to introduce damaging character evidence.
Prosecutors had their own collection of allegations concerning Anthony’s behavior before Austin’s death.
Hours before the April 2, 2025, stabbing, prosecutors said Anthony’s girlfriend reported to a Centennial High School staff member that Anthony was engaging in “stalking behavior,” including allegedly driving by her home and refusing to allow her to end their relationship.
In a separate 75-page filing, prosecutors alleged Anthony had previously been accused of stealing his girlfriend’s phone. However, a family representative told Atlanta Black Star that the text messages were enlarged on each page, causing the page count to increase.
Prosecutors also said Anthony wrote a “to-do” list for his girlfriend in October 2024 about dealing with “weirdos,” which included the line, “say sum slick like my bf kill people.”
They cited text messages in which prosecutors said Anthony admitted on at least two occasions to punching girls in the face.
CBS News previously reported that prosecutors also uncovered 2021 messages between Anthony and another student discussing robbing someone for $300.
The Gentleman’s Agreement
The competing filings reveal how much information about the teenagers’ alleged behavior never reached the jurors tasked with deciding whether Anthony committed murder or acted in self-defense.
Anthony’s attorneys argued that Austin and Hunter’s alleged history of violence, aggression and racist behavior was particularly important because it could help jurors determine who acted as the primary aggressor.
The material detailed in the filings does not establish that every allegation was proven. Nor does the fact that attorneys sought to introduce the evidence mean the judge would have found every item admissible.
But jurors deciding Anthony’s fate never heard much of it.
Anthony is serving a 35-year prison sentence. His new legal team is preparing to continue the fight through the appeals process.
