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Missouri Woman Federally Indicted Over Death Threats Sent to Austin Metcalf's Family
Sharifa Nicole Henderson, 34, was arrested in Kansas City after a federal grand jury in Texas indicted her on three counts of interstate threatening communications for allegedly sending death threats to the family of Austin Metcalf following Karmelo Anthony's murder conviction.
A Missouri woman has been federally indicted in Texas on charges that she sent a series of death threats to the family of Austin Metcalf, the 17-year-old fatally stabbed at a high school track meet last year, in the days after his killer's murder conviction.
Sharifa Nicole Henderson, 34, was arrested in Kansas City on Sept. 11, two days after a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas indicted her on three counts of interstate threatening communications, according to court records. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison if she is convicted.
Prosecutors allege Henderson made three separate threats against the Metcalf family in the days following the June 9 conclusion of the trial of Karmelo Anthony, who was convicted of fatally stabbing Metcalf during a regional high school track meet at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on April 2, 2025.
On June 10, Henderson allegedly sent a message through Facebook Messenger to one of Metcalf's family members saying she would kill them and put them in a body bag, adding, «now this is a threat take me to court,» according to the indictment. That same day, prosecutors say, Henderson called the Collin County government, which prosecuted the case against Anthony, and said she would «demolish» the Metcalf family and «strangle» one of them.
The next day, June 11, Henderson allegedly sent another threatening message on Facebook Messenger to a family member. «Don't worry I'll kill you next,» she wrote, according to the indictment. «I will hunt you forever until I kill you...I will be there. You will always have to look over your [expletive] shoulder.»
The case against Anthony, now 19, drew national attention and became racially charged, with supporters of Anthony criticizing the lack of Black jurors and calling for his acquittal, while supporters of the Metcalf family gathered outside the courthouse seeking justice. Anthony, then a student at Centennial High School, made his way over to the Memorial High School team's tent and sat under it, according to investigators. Metcalf, a Memorial High student, then allegedly told Anthony to leave. Prosecutors said Anthony provoked the confrontation that ended with Metcalf being fatally stabbed in the chest. Surveillance footage later released showed Anthony running from the tent. In police reports, Anthony was heard telling arresting officers: «I'm not alleged, I did it.» Authorities later said they found no evidence suggesting the two knew each other before the incident.
A Collin County jury sentenced Anthony to 35 years in prison. Last month, a judge denied Anthony's motion for a new trial, though the family is readying another appeal.
Jeff Metcalf, Austin's father, recently told a Dallas-Fort Worth television station that his family has received more than 100 threats since the end of the murder trial. The federal indictment against Henderson is the latest development in a case that has continued to generate intense public reaction online and in person.
