FRISCO, Texas – Karmelo Anthony has secured another lawyer in his fight to appeal his murder conviction.He was tried, convicted and sentenced to 35 years behind bars earlier this month for stabbing and killing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas.He has since filed a notice of appeal.Collin County court records indicate criminal defense attorney Lara Bracamonte Davila is his current court-appointed lawyer.Karmelo Anthony is pictured after being transferred to the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and transported to the Pack Unit near Navasota, Texas.
(Texas Department of Criminal Justice)JEFF METCALF SPEAKS OUT ABOUT LOSING SON AUSTIN AND HOW HIS FAMILY IS MOVING FORWARDBefore Bracamonte Davila was appointed, Fox News Digital learned that the court briefly appointed criminal defense attorney Donny Perales.He is no longer representing Anthony.While Bracamonte Davila is the current court-appointed appellate attorney, in an email to Fox News Digital, Perales said, "It is expected that the Anthony family will be retaining an attorney for the appeal."GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAILCourt records indicate days after his June 9 murder conviction, Anthony applied for what is known as a TDFA Indigent Packet in his appeal, which, according to the Texas Fair Defense Act, is where a defendant can apply for a court-appointed attorney if he or she is eligible.A court sketch shows Karmelo Anthony in a courtroom shortly before jurors began deliberations in Collin County, Texas, on June 9, 2026.
(Pat Lopez)FOLLOW US ON XTo qualify, a defendant must prove he or she cannot afford legal representation.Anthony said he was "penniless, destitute, and indigent person, too poor to employ counsel to represent me on the appeal," in a court document he filed on his own.WATCH: Austin Metcalf’s father remembers his son’s childhoodCLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWSFox News Digital previously reported that records indicate the Anthony family was t...