Accused murderer Karmelo Anthony’s family plans to use at least some of the $515,000 from a fundraising campaign on living expenses — after his alleged stabbing of a high school football star became a viral cause célèbre, according to the head of the donation site.
Most of the money will go to the 17-year-old’s legal defense fund, Jacob Wells, GiveSendGo’s co-founder, told Fox News.
“They’ve been very clear that the vast bulk of this money is going to be used for Karmelo’s legal defense,” Wells said. “They’ve indicated that some of it will be used to provide them some security, some much-needed security,” he added.
Wells said some of the funds will be going toward paying for “a secure location” for the family to live, Wells said.
Donations on GiveSendGo – a platform similar to GoFundMe – reached $515,768 by Wednesday, and have continued climbing even after his bond was lowered from $1 million to $250,000.
But questions emerged after it was reported the family was living in a $900,000 rental house in an exclusive gated community — along with flashy rides in the driveway.
Wells said he’s spoken directly with the Anthony family to address those concerns – prompting them to update their fundraiser description to clearly explain where the money was going.
GiveSendGo also sent an email to donors explaining where the funds were headed.
“Zero people responded saying ‘I want my money back,’” Wells said.
Wels said the family would continue to pay the $3,500-a-month rent for the home in the gated community.
Anthony is accused of stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death during a rain delay at a high school track meet.
The teens got into a fight after Metcalf told Anthony to leave his team’s tent – leading to an explosive altercation where Anthony allegedly pulled a knife from his bag and stabbed Metcalf in the chest, according to cops.
Metcalf died in the arms of his twin brother.
Here is the latest on the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf
Anthony admitted to the stabbing, according to police, but claimed it was in self-defense.
The fundraiser goal was raised Tuesday from $525,000 to $600,000, Fox reported, and the family won’t receive the funds until that mark is met.
Wells assured that no fundraiser is kept on the GiveSendGo website unless its integrity has been verified – but he also said he wasn’t very proud of the Anthony fund.
“How proud am I of this campaign? I don’t, I wouldn’t say I’m proud at all,” he said.
“I have no pride in having this being on GiveSendGo,” he added. “I just have appreciation for what GiveSendGo is doing in the midst of these tragic moments, which is standing on principle, which is loving people even in the midst of very hard and dark places.”
GiveSendGo was previously used to raise money to fund the legal defense for Daniel Penny following his arrested in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely.
