A teen who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old boy at a Texas track meet had his $1million bond reduced to $250,000 on Monday.
Anthony, 17, was in court as he faces a first-degree murder charge for the killing of Austin Metcalf, who died in his twin brother’s arms after being stabbed in the heart earlier this month.
When he posts bond, the accused killer will have to wear an ankle monitor and cannot leave his parent’s home without permission from judge Judge Angela Tucker.
Anthony’s defense lawyers had asked for the bond to be lowered to $150,000 citing his age and lack of criminal history.
Prosecutors had asked Anthony’s father, Andrew Anthony, why he could not use the more than $400,000 in donated funds for his son’s defense to pay the original $1million bond.
Andrew Anthony told the court that he has no access to the donated funds and could not afford to pay a $1million bond, as reported by CBS 11 News’ JD Miles.
Anthony’s father was also questioned in court over an incident in the teen’s high school back in February that involved an altercation ‘assault.’
It’s not clear whether Anthony was an aggressor, victim or witness in the incident, which was handled internally by Frisco’s independent school district.
Karmelo Anthony has been charged with the murder of Austin Metcalf
Austin Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms after he was stabbed in the heart in Frisco, Texas
The killing happened at the the Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco
The defense also questioned Anthony’s father, who said his son is an A student and captain of the football and track teams at his high school.
Metcalf’s killing has divided the Frisco community and nation at large; Judge Tucker said ‘they’ve never had the security issues they’ve faced with this case,’ according to Fox 4.
Just before his bond hearing on Monday, Anthony’s family retained Mike Howard, a Dallas criminal defense attorney.
His former lawyers, Billy Clark and Kim T. Cole., confirmed to WFAA Saturday that they will no longer be representing Anthony while the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) – a non-profit supporting the teen – announced the legal change.
An arrest report says a confrontation between the two star football players began when Austin told Karmelo he was sitting under another team’s pop-up tent and told him to move, as reported by NBC DFW.
The two students from different high schools began fighting before Karmelo unzipped his bag and reached in, telling Austin: ‘Touch me and see what happens.’
The report says Austin then ‘grabbed Anthony to tell him to move and Anthony pulled out … a black knife and stabbed Austin once in the chest.’
Karmelo reportedly ran away before being arrested by responding officers.
He had apparently told a school resource officer: ‘I was protecting myself,’ and, ‘He put his hands on me.’
