In Frisco, Texas, the legal battle of Karmelo Anthony continues as he has enlisted the services of a new attorney to challenge his murder conviction. Anthony, who was recently sentenced to 35 years in prison, was found guilty of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet.
Following his conviction earlier this month, Anthony took swift legal action by filing a notice of appeal. According to court records from Collin County, his case is now in the hands of criminal defense attorney Lara Bracamonte Davila, who has been appointed to represent him in the appeal process.
Anthony’s journey through the legal system has seen a change in representation. Prior to Bracamonte Davila taking over, the court had initially appointed Donny Perales as his defense attorney. However, Perales is no longer part of Anthony’s legal team.
A recent image shows Anthony after being transferred into the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, now residing at the Pack Unit near Navasota, Texas, as the appeal unfolds.
Before Bracamonte Davila was appointed, News Media 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 News Media, Perales said, “It is expected that the Anthony family will be retaining an attorney for the appeal.”
Court 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)
To 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 childhood
News Media previously reported that records indicate the Anthony family was tied to several businesses in Louisiana and Texas, and even opened a business weeks after their son murdered Metcalf.
Despite the appeals process, the Anthonys have yet to speak to the Metcalf family following the verdict, according to Austin’s father, Jeff Metcalf.
Meghan Metcalf and her son Hunter speak out after 17-year-old Austin Metcalf was killed in a deadly altercation in Frisco, Texas. (Jeff Metcalf/Meghan Metcalf/Fox news)
Metcalf said in a sit-down interview with News Media, “I don’t forget what he did to my son.” He went on to say, “I don’t have sympathy, but I gave him forgiveness, and the forgiveness was for me, of course, so I don’t carry the rage and the hate.“
News Media has reached out to Bracamonte Davila and the Anthony family for comment.
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