Days after a Collin County jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison for the murder of Austin Metcalf, 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony filed paperwork asking the court to appoint him a free lawyer for his appeal. In the filing, he described himself as a "penniless, destitute, and indigent person, too poor to employ counsel to represent me on the appeal."
That claim might carry more weight if his family hadn't raised more than $633,000 through a public fundraiser, or if his father hadn't quietly activated a Texas business entity less than a month after the fatal stabbing.
As Fox News Digital reported, a review of public records raises pointed questions about where that money went and whether Anthony's indigency claim holds up under scrutiny. The gap between the family's fundraising success and the defendant's claim of total poverty is the kind of discrepancy that deserves answers, and so far, none have been forthcoming.
On April 2, 2025, Karmelo Anthony fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. The killing turned into a racially charged cultural flashpoint almost immediately, with Anthony's supporters framing the incident as self-defense and alleging racial bias in the legal process.
A Collin County jury rejected those claims. Newsmax reported that 21 students testified Anthony had been told to leave Metcalf's team tent before the confrontation. Prosecutor Bill Wirskye called the stabbing a "sneak, surprise attack" and accused Anthony of provoking the encounter. The jury convicted him of murder and handed down a 35-year sentence.
Anthony was transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Pack Unit near Navasota, Texas. Then he filed his appeal, and his claim of poverty.
Less than two weeks after Metcalf's death, on April 15, 2025, a GiveSendGo fundraiser launched on behalf of the Anthony family. Kala Hayes, Anthony's mother, was described as the campaign's organizer. By the time it was removed from public view following the conviction, the campaign had pulled in $633,908.
The fundraiser's organizers wrote that the money was meant "to provide comprehensive assistance to the Anthony family as they navigate the many challenges surrounding Karmelo's case." GiveSendGo stated the funds were distributed for lawful purposes, including legal defense and family relocation expenses.
Fox News Digital reached out to GiveSendGo and Anthony's defense team for further clarification. No response was noted.
So where did $633,908 go? That remains an open question, one that matters a great deal when the beneficiary of that fundraiser now tells a court he doesn't have a dime to his name. The activist campaign surrounding Anthony's case has been aggressive from the start, but financial accountability has not been part of the conversation.
The fundraiser isn't the only financial thread worth pulling. Public records from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts show that an LLC called Angelic Obsessions became active in Texas on April 26, 2025, exactly 24 days after the fatal stabbing. Andrew Anthony III, Karmelo's father, is listed as the registered agent. The entity's registered office is at an Arlington, Texas address.
That same LLC had a prior life in Louisiana. Louisiana Secretary of State records show Angelic Obsessions LLC was formed in July 2021 and revoked by the state in November 2024. Within five months of that revocation, and less than a month after his son allegedly committed murder, Andrew Anthony III reactivated the entity across state lines in Texas.
It wasn't the family's first business venture. A separate entity, Exclusive Luxury Services LLC, was formed in Louisiana in 2016, revoked in 2019, reinstated in 2020, then revoked a second time in November 2023. Both LLCs are connected to Anthony's parents.
None of this proves wrongdoing. But a pattern of forming, losing, and reactivating business entities, capped by a Texas LLC filing weeks after a murder arrest, raises obvious questions about financial activity that sits awkwardly beside a sworn claim of destitution.
Andrew Anthony III declined to comment.
Anthony filed his notice of appeal just one day after sentencing, the New York Post reported. The appeal is widely expected to focus on allegations of racial bias in jury selection. During the trial, prosecutors struck three Black juror candidates, citing their occupations as teachers as potential sources of bias. The final jury included white, Asian, and Hispanic members but no Black jurors.
Texas criminal defense attorney Jeremy Rosenthal told the Post that racial allegations regarding jury strikes are "the most obvious thing that jumps off the page." But he expressed skepticism about the appeal's chances, saying he doesn't "see the appellate court overturning that unless we learn that there were other educators on the jury."
The political fallout from the verdict has been sharp, with Texas lawmakers clashing over the racial dimensions of the case. Family spokesman Dominique Alexander, a minister, argued that Anthony's right to self-defense was not equally applied because of his race.
"That a knife under 5 inches is legal in the state of Texas. That stand your ground is legal here in the state of Texas. But when a Black person try to use those same basic rights and laws, then we're not afforded those things."
That framing has driven much of the public sympathy, and the fundraising. But the jury heard the evidence, including testimony from 21 witnesses who said Anthony was told to leave the area before the confrontation turned fatal. A self-defense claim requires more than a legal knife and a stand-your-ground statute. It requires facts that persuade twelve people in a jury box. These twelve were not persuaded.
Just The News noted that the stabbing occurred after an altercation over seating at the track meet. Anthony faced up to life in prison; the 35-year sentence was the jury's determination of what justice required.
Whether Anthony's appeal has legal merit is a question for the appellate courts. But whether he qualifies for a taxpayer-funded attorney is a question that deserves more than a one-page filing and a claim of poverty.
A GiveSendGo campaign raised $633,908 in his name. His mother organized it. His father activated a Texas LLC less than a month after the stabbing. The family is connected to at least two other business entities in Louisiana, both of which have histories of revocation and reinstatement. And now the defendant, the direct beneficiary of a fundraising campaign that generated more than half a million dollars, tells the court he is penniless.
Maybe he is. Maybe every cent went to legal fees, family relocation, and living expenses, as the fundraiser's organizers suggested. But "maybe" is not good enough when a convicted killer asks the public to foot the bill for his appeal. The court should demand a full accounting before granting that request.
Some prominent voices have gone further than just supporting Anthony's legal defense. Rep. Jasmine Crockett's public defense of the convicted killer on her podcast drew sharp criticism and illustrated how deeply politicized this case has become. But politics and fundraising sympathy are not substitutes for financial transparency.
Austin Metcalf is dead. His family received no GiveSendGo windfall. The man convicted of killing him collected more than $633,000 in public donations, and now says he can't afford a lawyer.
If that doesn't warrant a hard look at the books, nothing does.