Newly surfaced photographs show convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony posing with firearms, adding to a growing body of evidence that paints a disturbing picture of the Texas teenager's alleged history of rage and violent threats well before he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in April 2025.

The images and documents, first reported by Fox News, emerge as Anthony's defense team fights for a retrial following his June 9 murder conviction and 35-year prison sentence. The revelations raise pointed questions about what jurors never saw and what school officials may have known about Anthony long before the killing.

A conviction, a sentence, and a fight for round two

Anthony, now 19, was found guilty of murder by a Texas jury on June 9, 2026, for stabbing Metcalf once in the chest during an altercation over seating at a track meet near Dallas. Metcalf, a 17-year-old white athlete, died from the wound. Just The News confirmed that the guilty verdict came after a trial that began the previous week, with Anthony facing up to life in prison. The court ultimately sentenced him to 35 years.

Anthony's defense team argued self-defense throughout the proceedings, claiming their client was protecting himself in the confrontation. That argument failed to persuade the jury, and the legal reasoning behind the failure is straightforward.

As National Review's editors noted in a post-verdict analysis, Anthony told Metcalf "Touch me and see what happens" before the stabbing. Metcalf was unarmed. Anthony was carrying a concealed knife. Those two facts alone gutted any claim of reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, the legal standard required for justified deadly force in Texas.

"The citizens who were charged with adjudicating this case were asked to do just that: adjudicate this case. Evidently, they took that task seriously, and called Anthony's crime what it was: murder."

That assessment, from National Review's editorial board, tracks with the jury's conclusion. But what the jury did not hear may be just as telling.

The text message the jury never saw

Among the most explosive post-conviction revelations is a 2023 text message in which Anthony allegedly wrote, "imma shoot the school up tmr." That message, as the New York Post reported, was kept from the jury during trial. The text surfaced publicly only after Anthony's conviction.

The suppression of that message raises serious questions. A defendant who allegedly threatened to shoot up his school two years before fatally stabbing a peer presents a pattern that any reasonable juror would want to weigh. Whether the exclusion was a matter of evidentiary rules or prosecutorial strategy, the result is the same: twelve citizens decided the case without knowing about it.

The case has drawn national attention partly because of the racial dynamics involved. A woman was attacked by a mob chanting support for Anthony in a separate incident that underscored how deeply the case has divided communities and inflamed tensions far beyond the courtroom.

Photographs with firearms

The newly revealed photographs showing Anthony posing with guns add another layer to the emerging portrait. While possessing or posing with firearms is not itself proof of violent intent, the images take on a different weight when viewed alongside the alleged school-shooting threat and the eventual stabbing.

Court documents detail what Fox News described as an alleged history of rage, threats, and violence. The full scope of those documents and the specific incidents they catalog have not been fully detailed in public reporting, but the combination of the photos, the text message, and the fatal stabbing itself forms a troubling timeline that investigators and courts will need to examine.

Teen violence has become an increasingly urgent concern across the country. In a separate case, two teenage suspects were identified after a Penn State student was fatally shot in Philadelphia over a stolen phone, illustrating the broader pattern of young people turning to lethal force over minor disputes.

The judge who spoke too soon

The post-conviction proceedings have been marked by unusual judicial drama. The original trial judge, John Roach, was removed from the case after making public comments about the verdict. Roach told WFAA TV:

"Yeah, they did, whatever they say, they got it right."

That statement, in which the sitting judge effectively endorsed the jury's guilty verdict on camera, handed Anthony's defense team a gift. Defense attorneys successfully argued that Roach's comments compromised the appearance of impartiality, and the Washington Examiner reported that the judge was removed from all appeal efforts.

Roach's removal represents a significant legal maneuver for the defense, even if it does not guarantee a different outcome. A new judge now oversees the post-conviction phase, and Anthony's attorneys have been aggressively pursuing a retrial.

Retrial denied, but the fight continues

On August 22, 2026, a Texas judge denied Anthony's request for a new trial. His lawyers had argued the original proceedings were compromised by strict courtroom rules, improper jury instructions, and disputes over evidence agreements. The denial means Anthony's 35-year sentence stands for now, though appellate options remain.

The defense's arguments centered on procedural complaints rather than factual innocence. They did not dispute that Anthony stabbed Metcalf. They did not produce new evidence that someone else committed the act. Instead, they contended that the trial's framework was unfair. The judge disagreed.

The case echoes a broader pattern of juvenile defendants accused of extreme violence. In Mississippi, a teenager allegedly killed an elderly couple and then fired on responding deputies, a case that similarly forced communities to grapple with how young people capable of such acts fall through institutional cracks.

What the system missed

If the 2023 text message is authentic, someone knew about a school-shooting threat two years before the track meet stabbing. Whether that threat was reported to school administrators, whether it was investigated by law enforcement, and whether any intervention was attempted are questions that authorities have not publicly addressed.

The photographs with firearms raise a parallel set of concerns. When and where the photos were taken, who else was present, and whether the weapons were legally possessed are details that remain unclear from available reporting. But for a teenager who allegedly threatened mass violence and later killed a peer, the images are difficult to dismiss as youthful posturing.

Anthony's conviction stands. His sentence stands. The trial judge who affirmed the verdict too publicly has been sidelined. And a growing file of evidence the jury never considered now sits in the public record, fueling debate about whether the system caught Anthony too late or whether it failed to catch him at all until a 17-year-old boy was dead.

When the warning signs are this loud and the consequences this permanent, the question is never whether the jury got it right. The question is why it took a jury to stop it.