Karmelo Anthony's mother says 'family has been under attack,' husband's 'mental health is deteriorating,' daughter afraid to 'sleep in her own bed'

During a press conference on Thursday, Karmelo Anthony's mother, Kayla Hayes, spoke publicly for the first time since her son admitted to stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death. She said that her family has been "under attack," her husband's mental health is "deteriorating," and that her daughter is afraid to "sleep in her own bed" because of alleged threats being made against their family.

The Anthony family, who reportedly lives in a gated community in which their home is valued at $900,000, appeared in a press conference on Thursday, after Karmelo was released from jail and put on house arrest for the fatal stabbing of Metcalf on April 2 while at a high school track meet. His bond was also reduced from $1,000,000 to $250,000.

"In the wake of this tragic incident, our family has been under attack. Whatever you think that happened between Karmelo and the Metcalf boys, my three younger children, my husband and I didn't do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about. The lies and false accusations that have been said about us, especially over the past week, has been overwhelming," she said.

She said that their family has been put in danger, and added, "Our address and my husband's previous employer's address has been put on all social media platforms. My husband had to take a leave of absence because he's afraid what may happen to our family. His mental health is deteriorating day by day. We have endured death threats. My 13-year-old daughter is afraid to sleep in her own bedroom because she's fearful of what might happen to her."

Reports have indicated that the family intended to buy a new home since the Anthony's legal defense crowdsource campaign has raised over $450,000 on GiveSendGo. The reports stemmed from Anthony's father saying that this was the case when he appeared in court to ask for his son's bond to be reduced. Hayes claimed that none of the money that was coming in from the GiveSendGo fund has gone to a new home.

"Let me be clear, the claims, the claims that were used about the public donation, to buy a home or anything else are completely false. We have not received a single dime from the GiveSendGo fundraiser. And the co-founder has stated that clearly. In reality, we were just notified yesterday that we could begin to draw funds. And it still takes seven days to receive those funds once the request is made," Hayes added.

According to neighbors who spoke to the Daily Mail, Karmelo also got a new car upon being released from jail. "He got a new car. If you look at the license plate, it's got a paper tag and it says it expires June 4," the neighbor said.

Prior to the press conference, Next Generation Action Network, the group headed by Dominique Alexander, said that the family has been hit with a number of false claims. During the conference, Alexander also suggested that the school was in part to blame for the stabbing, because there was bad weather that day, and Frisco Independent School District did not cancel the track meet.