A fundraiser set up for the teen boy who stabbed another teen through the heart at a school sporting event last week has officially surpassed the fundraiser set up for the family of his murder victim.
A GiveSendGo account for Karmelo Anthony has reached nearly $319,000 toward his legal defense as he faces murder charges for stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death during a high school track meet. Witnesses told police the two boys, who went to separate high schools and who reportedly didn’t know each other, got into a verbal spat after Anthony came into the tent set up for Metcalf’s high school track team. When Metcalf asked him to leave, Anthony became hostile, daring Metcalf to “touch me and see what happens.” When Metcalf obliged, Anthony reportedly pulled a knife out of his backpack and stabbed him in the chest.
Metcalf bled out in his twin brother’s arms before first responders could arrive on the scene. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
A crowdfunding campaign was almost immediately set up for Metcalf’s family, and another set up for Anthony - though that one was originally taken down by the site for violating the company’s policies against raising money for those accused of violent crimes. Another one, this time on the GiveSendGo website, was quickly put up, raking in more than $300,000 in a week.
The crowdfunding request on the site claims that the “narrative being spread is false, unjust, and harmful,” as Anthony, his family, and his lawyer have maintained he was acting in self-defense against a “bully.”
The GoFundMe for Metcalf’s family, on the other hand, has raised $318,443 as of Thursday afternoon, about $500 shy of the total for Anthony and falling further behind by the minute.
Prosecutors have already cited Supreme Court rulings for why they won't be seeking the death penalty or life without parole, taking the two harshest penalties for murder off the table even if Anthony is convicted of the charges against him. Meanwhile, his family is slated for a major payday thanks to thousands of donors happy to put their cash toward the defense of a young man who stabbed another one to death outside a high school.
I guess crime really does pay.