A high-profile legal team has announced that it will represent Karmelo Anthony as he appeals his conviction and prison sentence in the murder of Austin Metcalf. This update comes less than two weeks after Anthony filed a pauper’s oath requesting court-appointed legal assistance because he could not afford an attorney anymore. The filing came on the same day Anthony told the court of his intent to appeal.
Six attorneys from North Texas and Austin said in a new release issued by Stand with Karmelo that they will represent him pro bono while conducting an independent, fresh review of the trial record.
The new legal team
The legal team is made up of appellate, civil rights and criminal defense attorneys. The team includes former Dallas County prosecutor Russell Wilson, Michael Ware, director of the Innocence Project of Texas, and Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe. Also part of the appellate team are attorneys Brooke Cluse of Ben Crump Law, Sean Daredia and Justin A. Moore.
The attorneys said that they will hold off on interviews. However, they released a statement addressing their role in the case.
“Our appellate team has been retained following the conviction to conduct a fresh, independent review of the trial record. We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man’s family and the uncertainty facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed by these events,” the attorneys said, per NBC.
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“Our responsibility is to determine whether a legal error occurred and to ensure that every issue supported by the record is fully and vigorously presented on appeal. The appellate process exists for precisely this purpose,” they added.
At his trial, Anthony was represented by privately retained defense attorney Mike Howard.
Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the 2025 murder of Metcalf. He was accused of stabbing Metcalf to death during a rain delay at a high school track meet. Before the stabbing, which took place at Memorial High School in Frisco, Metcalf had reportedly asked Anthony, who is black, to leave the event since he did not attend that school. Metcalf was white.
Anthony has now been transferred to a Texas prison to begin his sentence. He was transferred to the Wallace Pack Unit, near Houston, Texas, on June 10.
