Donations continue to pour into Karmelo Anthony’s legal defense fund just days before his trial begins for the stabbing death of fellow Texas teenager Austin Metcalf.

The 18-year-old from Frisco has raised more than $612,000 in total, including over $1,500 in donations in the past three days alone. According to a longtime attorney, this substantial sum could play a significant role in his defense.

Anthony, who is free on a $250,000 bond, claims he acted in self-defense when he stabbed 17-year-old Metcalf at a high school track meet on April 2, 2025. Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms.

The case has ignited a racially charged national debate. Anthony, who is Black, faces a first-degree murder charge, with supporters arguing that he is a victim of a justice system biased against people of color. An Anthony family spokesman previously stated that the fundraising campaign was intended to “stand with us in the fight against white supremacy.”

The funds are being used to cover legal fees for prominent Dallas attorney Mike Howard, security expenses, and potential relocation costs for Anthony. They may also allow his defense team to hire psychologists, forensic analysts, and other expert witnesses to argue that Anthony reasonably feared for his life when Metcalf, a football player from a rival school, allegedly tried to shove him from his seat in the bleachers.

Prosecutors contend that Anthony provoked the confrontation by saying, “Touch me and see what happens,” while reaching into his backpack for the knife.

Veteran attorney Randy Zelin, who has 38 years of experience as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, said the cost of mounting such a defense can easily reach $500,000 to $700,000.

“You can easily go five, six, seven hundred thousand dollars for trials,” Zelin explained. “You could have experts, instead of Anthony taking the stand, go up and talk about what he might have been thinking, feeling, experiencing in that moment — about what could lead him to believe he was about to get hit with deadly force.”

Zelin noted that Anthony’s legal team may have also hired third-party discovery analysts and mock jurors to prepare for the trial, which entered the jury selection phase on Monday, with opening arguments scheduled for Thursday.

He added that the racial undertones of the case are largely responsible for the flood of grassroots donations, and that race is likely to be a central element of the defense strategy.

“Yes, race is an issue,” Zelin said. “But you do the best you can during jury selection to weed out those folks who, from the government’s perspective, are going to turn it into a race case. And the defense is going to look for people who maybe there is a wink and a nod there.”