Karmelo Anthony hires new legal team ahead of expected appeal of murder conviction

DALLAS - Karmelo Anthony has a new team of lawyers leading the appeal of his murder conviction.

What we know:

The team of lawyers announced they were taking over Anthony's case on Monday.

The team includes several attorneys with Dallas ties. Russell Wilson II, who will lead the team, frequently contributes to FOX 4's legal coverage.

The team's letter says they will "pursue all available avenues of appeal" relating to Anthony's murder conviction.

Frisco track meet stabbing 

The backstory:

Anthony is expected to appeal his murder conviction after a Collin County jury found him guilty of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf on June 9.

Anthony, the teenager who fatally stabbed a fellow student during a high school track meet last year, was sentenced to 35 years in prison following the conviction.

Anthony has since been transported to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, where he was then transported to his unit of assignment at the Pack Unit near Navasota.

Evidence from the trial was released by a Collin County judge last Friday.

Witnesses told investigators the confrontation began during a regional track meet at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco. Anthony, a student at Centennial High School, was sitting under the Memorial High School team tent when Austin Metcalf, a Memorial High School student, reportedly told him to leave. Investigators said they found no evidence the two teenagers knew each other before the incident.

According to an arrest report, witnesses identified Anthony to a school resource officer shortly after the stabbing. The officer reported that Anthony repeatedly claimed he acted in self-defense.

The report states that after being taken into custody, Anthony told officers, "I was protecting myself" and "He put his hands on me." According to the report, Anthony also asked officers whether the victim would be okay and whether the incident could be considered self-defense.

In the days following the stabbing, the case drew widespread attention on social media. Anthony continued to maintain that he acted in self-defense while being held in the Collin County Jail on a $1 million bond. A judge later reduced the bond to $250,000, citing Anthony's lack of a prior criminal record.

Days later, Anthony's family held a news conference and called for the public to allow the judicial process to proceed.

"I don't know why we are being targeted and discriminated against before a fair trial," Anthony's mother, Kayla Hayes, said at the time.

Public attention intensified when Metcalf's father attended the family's news conference. Police later escorted him from the event after organizers said he was not invited.

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