Karmelo Anthony's family to spend huge portion of their $515k GiveSendGo fundraiser on secure home for 'killer'

Daily Mail​

30-04-2025

The family of Karmelo Anthony has made clear that some portion of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they've raised online will go toward finding a secure home for the 17-year-old murder suspect amid 'escalating threats.'
Anthony is accused of killing Austin Metcalf, also 17, during a track meet earlier this month in Frisco, a town just north of Dallas, Texas.
The two boys, both star athletes from opposing schools, argued over Anthony supposedly being under the wrong tent. The altercation ended with Anthony stabbing Metcalf, according to police.
The enduring attention on the case has been largely due to the fact that Anthony's family has been able to raise more than $515,000 from people who wholeheartedly believe in the boy's innocence.
With all the donations flooding in from supporters, the family has clarified why they need all this cash, explaining that it's not just for legal expenses.
'The funds raised will also support a range of urgent and necessary needs that have emerged as a result of this situation, including — but not limited to — the safe relocation of the Anthony family due to escalating threats to their safety and well-being, as well as basic living costs, transportation, counseling, and other security measures,' reads the description of the fundraiser on GiveSendGo.
It continued: 'We ask for your continued prayers, support, and solidarity. Your contribution not only helps protect and stabilize the family, but also serves as a powerful message of community care and resistance in the face of injustice.'
This message was first written on the Give Send Go page on April 16, two days after Anthony was released from jail on a $250,000 bond.
Citing the death threats they were receiving, the Anthony family abandoned the $900,000 home they were renting in a gated community and went into hiding in an undisclosed location.
On Saturday, DailyMail.com exclusively uncovered that at least one of the threats that prompted the family to move out came from teenagers who drove by the home firing water guns.
Frisco cops were called to home April 15 by Andrew Anthony, the suspect's father, around 7:51 pm after two Jeeps with teenage passengers were seen driving past the house through the door bell camera, according to a police incident report obtained by DailyMail.com.
Within the first minute of his interaction with police, Andrew acknowledged the weapons the kids had were 'play guns.'
He further described the two Jeeps as having four passengers each, with both white and black males in the cars. Andrew also told police that the 'play guns' were never pointed at them.
This latest development comes almost a month after Metcalf was killed on April 2.
Witnesses told police the interaction between Anthony and Metcalf started at the track meet that day after Anthony migrated over to the pop-up tent for Memorial High School, where Metcalf attended as a junior.
Metcalf was under the impression that Anthony, a senior at Centennial High, should have been under his own school's tent and told him to leave, according to police.
That's when Anthony unzipped his bag and reached in, telling Metcalf: 'Touch me and see what happens,' a witness told police.
The police affidavit says Metcalf 'grabbed Anthony to tell him to move and Anthony pulled out ... a black knife and stabbed Austin once in the chest.'
Metcalf allegedly confronted Anthony in the Memorial High School pop-up tent at a track meet. Anthony responded by pulling out a knife and stabbing Metcalf, according to a witness who spoke to police
Metcalf collapsed and died in the arms of his twin brother, Hunter. Meanwhile, Anthony is said to have fled the scene and tossed the knife into the bleachers.
He was arrested shortly after and responding officers said Anthony told them he was 'protecting myself' and that Metcalf had 'put his hands on me.'
Anthony also told officers, 'I'm not the alleged, I did it,' according to the affidavit.
Anthony has been charged with first-degree murder. Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said earlier this month he expects a grand jury will decide whether to uphold the charge by late June.
If the grand jury votes to indict, that will send the case to trial, unless a plea bargain materializes.
However, that's unlikely, as one of Anthony's defense attorneys, Mike Howard, has suggested the teen will claim he killed Metcalf in self-defense.
If convicted, Anthony will not face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, as the Supreme Court has ruled that those sentences for juvenile offenders constitute cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.