Newly released court documents reveal that Karmelo Anthony, convicted in June 2025 of murdering high school athlete Austin Metcalf, sent his girlfriend Valeria Perez a series of increasingly violent and threatening messages in the 16 months before the killing. The 75-page trove of evidence was excluded from Anthony's murder trial after prosecutors and his original defence team agreed to keep it from the jury, reportedly to avoid the case being overshadowed by racial dynamics; the Daily Mail says it has obtained and verified the documents independently.

The messages, exchanged between December 2023 and the day of the killing, show Anthony, then a teenager, describing uncontrollable rage, boasting about weapons and repeatedly threatening to kill or assault Perez, 18. Examples include threats to shoot her, claims he had taken a gun and knife into school, an admission that he would "say it was PTSD" to explain any violence, and a message appearing to acknowledge physically assaulting her in February 2025. Anthony, now 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas track meet on 2 April 2025; Perez has continued to support him throughout the legal proceedings.