The family of Karmelo Anthony, the Frisco teenager convicted of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet, is asking the public for $250,000 to help fund his appeal. The request comes roughly two weeks after Kaufman County Judge Michael Chitty denied Anthony’s motion for a new trial following a two-day hearing.
Anthony, now 19, was convicted in June and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the stabbing death of Metcalf. In court filings tied to the appeal, he describes himself as a “penniless, destitute, and indigent person, too poor to employ counsel to represent me on the appeal.”
This is not the family’s first appeal for donations. A previous GiveSendGo campaign raised nearly $634,000. Anthony’s attorney, Russell Wilson, has said that money went toward moving expenses and security for the family. The new fund, according to Wilson, will be held in an attorney trust account rather than controlled directly by the family.
Chitty’s ruling on the new-trial motion did not end the appeals process. Wilson said the denial is part of a larger appeal that could take more than a year to resolve. He said the trial record is expected to be assembled in October, after which prosecutors and defense attorneys will submit written arguments before the Dallas Court of Appeals decides whether additional hearings are warranted.
The hearing on the new-trial motion surfaced new details about Anthony’s background, including a past threat to shoot up his high school and a stint in a residential program for troubled youth after his behavior became difficult for his parents to manage.
Family Presses On, Declines to Detail Spending
Anthony’s family and legal team held a press conference last week to make the new appeal for donations. “We love you, son. We’re going to keep fighting. And this is not over,” said Anthony’s father, Andrew Anthony.
A local reporter at the press conference pressed the family on where the earlier $634,000 in donations went. “I’m just asking because I know people are gonna be asking about, like, where did that money go from and y’all are asking for more money?” the reporter asked.
Family spokesman Dominique Alexander responded, “I can’t speak to, hold on, I can speak to that. We’re not gonna comment on that. We don’t know, like, for instance, I can not speak on all of the information regarding all of those different fees.”
Alexander separately called questions about how the previous donations were spent “deliberate lies.”
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