Karmelo Anthony released on reduced bond of $250K & house arrest in the murder of Frisco, Texas high school football star, Austin Metcalf as suspect’s ‘dream’ defense team are to now prepare for trial.
The Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing a high school football star at a track meet was on Monday released from jail after meeting the new reduced bond of $250,000.
Karmelo Anthony had his bond reduced from an initial $1 million bond, with a presiding judge allowing the 17 year old to house arrest while he awaits his trial. As part of the conditions of his release, the teen is to stay at home with an ankle monitor along with 24-hour supervision from his parents or an ‘adult designee.’
Furthermore, Anthony is also not allowed on social media and cannot engage with his classmates or anything related to school, CBS News reported.
Anthony had been in custody at the Collin County Jail for allegedly stabbing Austin Metcalf, also 17, in the heart during a fight over a seat at a track meet on April 2. He is charged with first-degree murder.
During Monday’s bond hearing, Anthony’s father testified on his son’s behalf, telling the court, the teen had never been in trouble. Anthony’s family said the teen did not have a passport and that he’d be surrounded by family and friends to hold him accountable ahead of trial according to NBCDFW.
Witnesses told cops Anthony had sought to sit at a rival pop up tent only for Metcalf to demand he leave and attempt to push him with Anthony in turn ‘warning’ Metcalf not to touch him. It is then that the teen took out a blade during the scuffle and stabbed Metcalf in the heart, leaving him to bleed out in his twin brother’s arms, according to a police report.
The lowered bond came one week after Anthony’s attorney said they would ask the court to lower the ‘excessive’ $1 million bond and also ask the local district attorney to make ‘a better determination’ of the charges.
Even if the boy is convicted of first-degree murder, he will not face the death penalty, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis revealed last week.
‘The Supreme Court has said not only can you not seek the death penalty against someone who committed a crime when they’re 17, you can’t even get them life without parole. That would not be something we could do even if we wanted to,’ Willis told WFAA.
Anthony himself allegedly told police he was acting in self-defense, and his family claimed ‘the narrative being spread is false, unjust, and harmful,’ on a GiveSendGo.com fundraiser for their legal fees.
Previous posts alluded to Anthony being bullied on targeted because of his race and being black.
That fundraiser as of Monday had raised more than $420,297.
Those proceeds will help the family retain two hot-shot Dallas lawyers with a history of headline-grabbing racial justice cases.
One, Kim Cole, represented black teen Dajerria Becton after a viral video from McKinney, Texas, showed a cop slamming and pinning her to the ground at a pool party.
Cole managed to win a $148,850 settlement for Becton from the McKinney police department and the officer, who resigned.
Anthony’s other attorney, Billy Clark, became a professional mediator after a 20-year career in the Air Force, the nypost reports.
When Anthony’s other attorney, Michael Howard was asked why the teen had brought with him a knife at the track meet, the lawyer responded, that the legal team weren’t yet ready to address that.
‘Every Texan has a right to defend themselves when they reasonably fear for their life. Self-defense is a protection that applies to each and every one of us,’ the lawyer told reporters. ‘There are two sides to every story.’
The lawyer stressed that the ‘facts would come out after a full investigation.’
Similarly a fundraising page similarly for Metcalf’s family has raised $343,045.
Stated the fundraiser, ‘Austin was a bright young man with a great future ahead of him’.
‘He was a leader of men. His smile would light up the room. His passion for football was unbelievable. Voted team MVP this past season and carried a 4.0 GPA,’ his father wrote in part, before adding: ‘I love you forever, son.
