A Missouri woman has been federally indicted over alleged death threats targeting the father of Austin Metcalf, the Texas high school student killed in a stabbing, around the time Karmelo Anthony was convicted in the case, according to a new report.
Sharifa Nicole Henderson, 34, is accused of sending “violent and vulgar threats” to Jeff Metcalf, Austin’s father, as Anthony’s trial in Collin County, Texas, came to a close, CBS News reported.
According to the indictment, Henderson allegedly contacted “a member of a crime victim’s family” through Facebook Messenger on or about June 9. Prosecutors said she threatened to kill the family member and “put them in a body bag.”
“Now this is a threat to take me to court [expletive],” the message said, according to the court document obtained by CBS Texas.
Authorities identified the target as Austin’s father. Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed at Memorial High School in Frisco in April of last year, the outlet reported.
The next day, Henderson allegedly sent another message to the grieving father, vowing to “demolish” the family and “strangle” a relative, prosecutors said.
In a third alleged message sent to Jeff Metcalf on or around June 11, Henderson wrote: “Don’t worry I’ll kill you next,” according to the indictment.
“I will hunt you forever until I kill you,” Henderson allegedly continued, adding that she “will be there” and warning Jeff Metcalf that he would “always have to look over your [expletive] shoulder,” court documents allege.
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Anthony, 19, was found guilty on June 9 and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He appealed the conviction and sought a new trial, but a Texas judge denied the request.
Investigators linked the Missouri woman, who also uses the name Riffa Henderson, to the alleged threatening messages through phone records and social media accounts, according to Jay R. Combs, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, CBS Texas reported.
“Those messages included violent and vulgar threats,” Combs said.
“The social media messages included threats to stalk and kill members of the Metcalf family.”
The Missouri woman was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of interstate threatening communications, the US Attorney’s Office in Plano, Texas, announced Friday.
Henderson was nabbed in Kansas City, Missouri and is being taken to the Eastern District of Texas, according to Combs.
She faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted on each charge.