An online fund bearing the name of Karmelo Anthony has raised an enormous amount of money, and the platform that is collecting the donations has faced a great deal of criticism.
Anthony was arrested last week on charges of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, Texas. Anthony and Metcalf were among over 100 athletes gathered at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco on Wednesday last week for a District 11-5A Championship track meet. Teams were gathering under tents as they awaited the start of the meet when an altercation developed between Metcalf and Anthony.
Anthony, who attended Centennial High School, allegedly was standing under Memorial’s tent. Metcalf confronted Anthony and told him to move. Anthony allegedly challenged Metcalf back, and Metcalf allegedly responded by grabbing Anthony. Anthony then allegedly took out a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the chest — a move that proved fatal.
You can read more details from the official police report here.
The incident has made headlines nationally and has become somewhat racially charged. A fund on the website Give Send Go was created to help the Anthony family and had raised more than $300,00 at the time this story was published. The goal has been set at $350,000.
Several GoFundMe campaigns were also started on Anthony’s behalf, but those were deleted due to the platform’s terms of service. GoFundMe prohibits “fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes.” Any GoFundMe donations that were made were returned to the donors.
Many people believe the Give Send Go campaign should also be removed. Heather Wilson, one of the platform’s co-founders, took to social media on Wednesday to defend the decision to keep the fundraiser active.
“I wanted to share my perspective on the ongoing discussion about whether we should allow fundraising for individuals who’ve been charged with a crime,” Wilson wrote on X, via FOX 4 in Frisco. “We’re now seeing similar outrage from the right as we once did from the left when we allowed campaigns for Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny. In both of those cases, we upheld the principle that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Shouldn’t that same standard apply here as well?”
Wilson added that the founders of Give Send Go decided from the start that the platform “would not serve as judge and jury.”
“We’re not here to decide who deserves a defense. That’s the role of our justice system,” Wilson wrote.
Anthony is being held in the Collin County jail on $1 million bond, according to court records.
