Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records withheld from trial
Prosecutors disclosed violent messages and a 'gentleman’s agreement' that kept evidence from jurors in the 2025 Texas murder case
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Karmelo Anthony Prosecutor Reveals Evidence Jury Never Saw
Photograph: Internewscast (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Karmelo Anthony was convicted in 2025 of murdering Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas high school track meet and sentenced to 35 years.
- During an August 2026 appeal hearing, prosecutors disclosed text messages in which Anthony fantasised about stabbing someone and licking blood off a knife, and a photo of a knife with the note “I’m lowkey on the verge.”
- The evidence was withheld from the original trial under a “gentleman’s agreement” between prosecutors and defence to avoid introducing juvenile records for Anthony and Metcalf.
- District Judge John Roach was removed from further proceedings after comments praising the jury’s conviction.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 16 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 17 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
70/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
50/100
17 sources · methodology
Missing from the left
Only 3 of the 16 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.
Karmelo Anthony was convicted in June 2026 of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas in April 2025. Anthony, then 18, stabbed Metcalf beneath a tent during the event. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison and is appealing the conviction.
During an appeal hearing on 20 August 2026, prosecutors disclosed evidence that had been withheld from the original trial. Collin County Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye testified that Anthony had sent text messages in which he fantasised about stabbing someone and “licking the blood off the blade,” as reported by WJAR. Wirskye also said Anthony had sent a photo of a knife with the note “I’m lowkey on the verge,” according to Internewscast.
The evidence was omitted from the trial under what Wirskye described as a “gentleman’s agreement” with Anthony’s defence team. The agreement kept out character evidence about Anthony and Metcalf, including Anthony’s alleged stalking of his ex-girlfriend and Metcalf’s juvenile record. Wirskye testified that Metcalf’s record included graffiti containing racist slogans, as reported by WJAR and Internewscast.
District Judge John Roach, who presided over the original trial, was removed from further proceedings after comments praising the jury’s conviction. Anthony’s attorneys had sought his recusal, according to reports carried by WJAR.
What the coverage left out
No left-rated outlet ran this story. None of the right-rated digests mentioned that Anthony’s ex-girlfriend had told school officials he was stalking her, a detail carried by both centre-rated reports. None of the right-rated digests reported that District Judge John Roach had been removed from further proceedings.
Coverage settled. We checked this 17 times and stopped on 26 Aug 2026, 08:15. The figures above are what it finished at.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
3 rated outlets
- Left-rated outlets reported that prosecutors revealed evidence at an appeal hearing that was withheld from Karmelo Anthony's trial. This included texts allegedly sent by Anthony to his ex-girlfriend and her report that he was stalking her hours before Austin Metcalf was fatally wounded.
- BoredPanda reported that the evidence was excluded under a "gentleman's agreement" where prosecutors would not use details about Anthony's alleged behaviour toward his ex-girlfriend, in return for the defence not bringing up Metcalf's juvenile criminal history.
- The Root reported that newly revealed records detailed troubling histories for both teens. People reported that Anthony's ex-girlfriend said he stalked her and sent disturbing texts before murdering Austin Metcalf.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The two centre-rated reports, Internewscast and WJAR, led on the newly disclosed text messages and the “gentleman’s agreement” that kept them from the jury. Both quoted Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye’s testimony about Anthony’s messages and the photo of the knife. Internewscast reported Wirskye’s statement that Anthony’s ex-girlfriend had told school officials he was stalking her. WJAR quoted Wirskye’s description of the text message in which Anthony fantasised about stabbing someone and “licking the blood off the blade.”
- Both reports carried Wirskye’s testimony about Metcalf’s juvenile record, including graffiti containing racist slogans. Internewscast quoted Wirskye’s explanation that the agreement was meant to avoid turning the trial into a “racial tinderbox.” WJAR reported that Anthony’s lawyers had evidence about Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, including photos of graffiti with racist slogans.
Right
9 rated outlets
- The four right-rated digests led on the violent content of Anthony’s text messages. TrendingPolitics and Twitchy both carried the phrase “licking the blood off the blade,” quoting Wirskye’s testimony. TrendingPolitics described Anthony as “the black Texas teen who was convicted earlier this year of fatally stabbing white teen Austin Metcalf.” TMZ’s digest reported that Anthony had allegedly sent his then-girlfriend a photo of a knife and talked about stabbing someone.
- Three of the four digests mentioned the “gentleman’s agreement” that kept evidence from the jury. TrendingPolitics and TMZ reported that the agreement had withheld evidence about Metcalf’s juvenile record, including racist graffiti. None of the right-rated digests mentioned Judge John Roach’s removal from the case.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records…?
- Of the 16 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 19% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 56% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 17. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records… left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 16 rated outlets on this story, 19% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 56% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records… biased?
- Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records withheld from trial is one event reported by 17 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Karmelo Anthony appeal hearing reveals texts and juvenile records…?
- 17 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What evidence was withheld from Karmelo Anthony’s original trial?
- Prosecutors disclosed text messages in which Anthony fantasised about stabbing someone and licking blood off a knife, and a photo of a knife with the note “I’m lowkey on the verge.” The evidence was omitted under a “gentleman’s agreement” to avoid introducing juvenile records for Anthony and the victim, Austin Metcalf.
- Why was District Judge John Roach removed from the case?
- Judge John Roach was removed from further proceedings after comments praising the jury’s conviction of Karmelo Anthony. Anthony’s attorneys had sought his recusal, as reported by WJAR. The removal was not mentioned in any of the right-rated digests.
- What did Austin Metcalf’s juvenile record contain?
- Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye testified that Metcalf’s juvenile record included graffiti containing racist slogans, including phrases like “KKK kill all black people” and a racial slur. The evidence was withheld from the original trial under an agreement between prosecutors and defence.
Read it at the source
17 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
3- Karmelo Anthony’s Ex Said He Stalked Her, Sent Disturbing Text Before Murdering Austin Metcalf (opens People in a new tab)
- What Jurors Didn’t Hear in the Karmelo Anthony Case (opens The Root in a new tab)
- Karmelo Anthony Case Takes Dark Turn As Prosecutor Unveils Evidence Jury Never Saw, Including Disturbing Texts (opens BoredPanda in a new tab)
BoredPanda — is BoredPanda biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
4- Karmelo Anthony Prosecutor Reveals Disturbing New Evidence (opens Sandra Rose in a new tab)
Sandra Rose — is Sandra Rose biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Karmelo Anthony Prosecutor Reveals Evidence Jury Never Saw (opens Internewscast in a new tab)
Internewscast — is Internewscast biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Karmelo Anthony fantasized about stabbing, 'licking the blood off the blade': prosecutors (opens KATU in a new tab)
- Karmelo Anthony fantasized about stabbing, 'licking the blood off the blade': prosecutors (opens WJAR in a new tab)
Right
9- Bombshell texts from Karmelo Anthony may NUKE efforts to seek new trial · American Wire News (opens American Wire News in a new tab)
American Wire News — is American Wire News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Revealed: The 'Gentlemen's Agreement' That Kept Devastating Karmelo Anthony Evidence Out of Court and What that Evidence Was (opens The Western Journal in a new tab)
The Western Journal — is The Western Journal biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Previously hidden evidence revealed: Karmelo Anthony said he was ‘on the verge’ of stabbing someone hours before the murder (opens OAN in a new tab)
- Bombshell News About Karmelo Anthony’s Texts and Threats (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Karmelo Anthony's Shocking Murder Fantasies Revealed In Appeal Hearing: 'Licking Blood Off The Blade' (opens TrendingPolitics in a new tab)
TrendingPolitics — is TrendingPolitics biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Prosecutor Reveals Karmelo Anthony Fantasized About Stabbing Someone and Licking Blood Off the Blade (opens Twitchy in a new tab)
- Karmelo Anthony prosecutor reveals trove of evidence jury never saw — including disturbing texts: ‘Low key on the verge’ (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Karmelo Anthony fantasized about stabbing, 'licking the blood off the blade': prosecutors (opens WSYX in a new tab)
Not rated
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