After 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf, his parents have publicly blamed their son’s white defense attorney for the loss.
In post-trial interviews, they claimed the attorney “didn’t fight hard enough” and suggested a Black attorney would have produced a better outcome.
Atlanta Black Star coverage of parents’ comments:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2026/06/11/we-were-delusional-karmelo-anthonys-parents-thought-theyd-get-a-fair-trial-claim-they-were-set-up-and-pushed-to-hire-white-attorney/
Karmelo Anthony Claims He’s Broke, Can’t Afford Appeal Lawyer Despite Family Raising $625K Online
Karmelo Anthony, the teen convicted this week of murdering a fellow student in Texas, says he is broke and does not have enough money to hire a lawyer for his appeal, despite the fact that his family raked in $625,000 in crowdfunding.
The 19-year-old convicted killer made the claim in court documents for his appeal filed after he was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison for murdering 17-year-old football player Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, high school track meet in 2025, the New York Post reported.
In his filing, Anthony describes himself as a “penniless, destitute, and indigent person, too poor to employ counsel to represent me on the appeal.”
The teen’s attorney, Mike Howard, said the defense has “several important issues for the appellate courts to consider. An appeal is the next part of the legal process and a right afforded every American.”
Anthony seems to be angling for a state-funded attorney for his appeal.
The convict’s claim of “destitution,” though, is hard to square with the hundreds of thousands his family raised in his name ahead of his trial.
The fundraiser on GiveSendGo stated that the donations would go for Anthony’s legal fees. But it also claimed a portion would be used for the family’s living and security expenses.
h/t Sir P. Ent