The verdict was announced in Frisco, Texas The case of teenager Karmelo Anthony for the April 2025 murder of another teen, Austin Metcalf, was one of the most controversial verdicts in the country in recent years.
Given the attention the ruling has generated, much misinformation has been spread around the case. While most such false claims involve GiveSendGo Fundraiser Launched by Karmelo Anthony Familya significant number of people also made false claims linking celebrities to the case. The first one is Cardi B He allegedly donated money to Anthony after he appeared to make social media posts questioning the verdict.
Now, similar claims about the NBA legend and former Los Angeles Lakers star have gone viral LeBron James. A video has gone viral on social media of LeBron allegedly promising to send $500,000 to Carmelo Anthony’s family as they consider appealing his guilty verdict and subsequent 35-year sentence.
LeBron James fake video spreads
The video appears to have first appeared on the X account FADE (@FadeMFx), which has around 10,000 followers at the time of writing. The account made a Posting late Saturday nightwhich features photos of Carmelo Anthony and videos of LeBron James.
The video was titled: “LeBron James revealed he spoke with the parents of 19-year-old Carmelo Anthony and he will donate $500,000 to help their campaign to bring Carmelo home.” It also included a fabricated quote from LeBron: “I believe everyone deserves a second chance and all he did was defend himself. I’ll wire them $500,000 tomorrow.”
However, as actually watching the video shows, LeBron didn’t say anything in the video related to Carmelo Anthony. He discussed the NFL and his favorite players in the video, which did not mention anything related to Carmelo Anthony.
In fact, after the video racked up over 1 million views,
Judge defends controversial verdict
Collin County, Texas, Judge John Roach Jr., who handed down Karmelo Anthony’s sentence, faced criticism amid backlash over the 19-year-old’s 35-year prison sentence. However, he defended the decision, noting that he was simply “following the law.”
“I know I made people angry, but I’m not here to make them happy either,” Roach said in an interview with a local broadcaster.
“Before this trial, if Mr. Metcalf had walked up to me and said ‘hello,’ I would not have known him,” he said. “As long as I obey the law, I can sleep well at night.”
He also defended the jury, saying their verdict was incorrect “because they were selected based on the law, they heard the facts, it happened in this courtroom, and they got the verdict.”
