A fresh appeal for cash has landed in donors’ inboxes on behalf of a convicted killer, just weeks after a Texas courtroom slammed the door on his hopes for a second trial.
Karmelo Anthony’s relatives are now asking supporters for $250,000, money they say will cover the cost of fighting his conviction in appellate court.
So far, the response has fallen dramatically short. A GiveSendGo page set up for this specific purpose has collected only about $27,000 toward that six-figure goal.
Anthony sits behind bars serving a 35-year sentence. Jurors convicted him in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old killed at a Frisco track meet in 2025.
Speaking through a family spokesperson, the Anthony family laid out its reasoning to the New York Post.
“We understand that the pursuit of justice through the appellate system requires tremendous resources. This is why the legal fund has been established,” the spokesperson said.
This is not the first time the family has turned to online crowdfunding. Before Anthony’s trial even began, an earlier fundraiser brought in a far larger sum, topping $600,000.
That campaign disappeared from GiveSendGo’s platform once the conviction came down.
GiveSendGo later addressed how that money moved.
The organization stated the funds “was created to support pre-trial needs, and those funds were disbursed over the past year for lawful purposes including legal defense and family relocation.”
Here is where the story takes an unusual turn. Rather than tapping into remaining funds from that six-figure haul, Anthony went a different direction almost immediately after sentencing.
Court records show he submitted a request asking the state to appoint him a taxpayer-funded attorney for his appeal.
His own words, filed with the court, painted a picture sharply at odds with his family’s fundraising success. Anthony called himself a “penniless, destitute, and indigent person, too poor to employ counsel.”
That claim of poverty arrived on the heels of a fundraising campaign that had pulled in more than $600,000 for his defense.
Meanwhile, a separate legal battle was already underway. Anthony’s newer defense team had filed a motion seeking an entirely new trial, arguing the first one was unfair to their client.
A judge rejected that motion last month, closing off that particular path.
The unfairness argument hinged largely on a deal struck before trial between prosecutors and Anthony’s original attorneys.
Both sides agreed to keep certain character evidence about both Anthony and Metcalf away from the jury.
That evidence, once unsealed by reporting, turned out to be significant. Prior allegations that Metcalf had engaged in racist behavior were among the material jurors never saw.
On the other side of the ledger, jurors also never heard allegations tied to Anthony’s past conduct toward an ex-girlfriend, including claims he had stalked her.
Reports further indicate the excluded evidence touched on an alleged fixation with knives and firearms.
None of that material reached the jury box during trial, a fact now central to Anthony’s appellate strategy even after the new-trial motion failed.
The 2025 killing at the Frisco track meet has remained a lightning rod for public attention throughout the legal process, from initial charges through sentencing and now into the appellate phase.
Anthony remains in state custody as his legal team weighs its next move following the judge’s denial.
The newly launched $250,000 fundraiser continues collecting donations, though it remains far below its stated target.
