Austin Metcalf’s father is talking out for the primary time after a choose denied denied his son’s assassin — Karmelo Anthony — a request for a brand new trial for the deadly stabbing at a Texas highschool observe meet.
In an interview with ABC Information, Jeff Metcalf stated he doesn’t imagine the conviction and jail sentence can deliver his household justice.
“No. There is not any such factor. I received handed a life sentence,” Metcalf stated when requested whether or not he felt he acquired justice.
“So did Meghan, Hunter. So did everyone else in my household and her household,” he continued, referring to Austin’s mom, Meghan Metcalf and twin brother, Hunter Metcalf. “We do not ever get to see Austin once more. We do not get to speak to him, hug him.”
ABC Information – PHOTO: Jeff Metcalf, father of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf who was stabbed to dying at a observe meet in Frisco, Texas in April 2025, speaks with ABC Information, August 24, 2026.
In a wide-ranging interview, Metcalf detailed the sophisticated feelings he is skilled whereas grieving for his baby. He stated he forgave Anthony, however he additionally needed no different father or mother to should expertise comparable ache. He stated he would not apologize for the usage of racially charged language within the aftermath of the trial, however acknowledged that utilizing such language hadn’t been “my best second.”
And he blamed the “different facet” for bringing race into the dialog concerning the case, which gripped the nation — Metcalf was white and Anthony is Black.
Whereas the teenager accountable for his son’s dying fights for a brand new trial, Metcalf stated his household is now going through numerous milestones and holidays with out Austin.
Metcalf Household – PHOTO: Austin Metcalf in a household supplied picture.
“There’s an empty seat at Christmas, Thanksgiving. Unwrapped packages. Graduations, missed. Birthdays. Being an aunt or an uncle. All taken away,” he stated.
Anthony, now 19, was convicted of homicide in June and sentenced to 35 years in jail for fatally stabbing Austin throughout an altercation at a observe meet in Frisco, Texas, in April 2025. Anthony’s attorneys argued at trial that he acted in self-defense, whereas prosecutors known as the killing “unjustified” and “plain and easy homicide.”
Throughout the trial in Collin County, the jury was proven physique digicam footage that included Anthony’s voice saying, “I did it.” So it was “actually by no means about guilt or innocence,” Metcalf advised ABC Information. “It was about how lengthy you are going to do.”
Metcalf stated that regardless of the ache his household has endured, he feels some sympathy for Anthony over the implications he now faces.
Listening to on Karmelo Anthony’s bid for brand spanking new trial in observe meet stabbing concludes
“He nonetheless will get to see his household. It is a tragedy he must be in jail. I really feel sorry for him,” Metcalf stated. “Simply by the truth that his life is just about ruined.”
However, Metcalf added, “I do not really feel sorry for what he did, although. He must be held accountable.”
Metcalf’s feedback come after retired Kaufman County District Decide Michael Chitty denied Anthony’s movement for a brand new trial on Saturday.
Anthony’s new attorneys had claimed he was “coerced” into waiving his proper to testify amid a dispute over a beforehand undisclosed settlement between the prosecution and Anthony’s trial attorneys to restrict sure character proof about each Anthony and the sufferer. The protection additionally alleged that courtroom restrictions imposed by Collin County Decide John Roach, who presided over the homicide trial, denied Anthony a good trial.
Decide Chitty was assigned to supervise the case after Roach was faraway from additional proceedings following the protection’s problem to his impartiality.
Decide denies Karmelo Anthony’s bid for brand spanking new trial after homicide conviction in observe meet stabbing
Following the denial of the movement for a brand new trial, Anthony’s appellate lawyer, Russell Wilson II, stated in a press release that the authorized group will proceed an attraction within the Fifth Court docket of Appeals and “pursue each authorized treatment obtainable to our consumer.”
Metcalf advised ABC Information that he’s conscious of the truth that some members of the general public imagine Anthony didn’t obtain a good trial. He criticized them, saying they didn’t assume for themselves.
“Certain, there are individuals on this world that may imagine no matter they’re advised,” he stated. “They comply with. They’re sheep.”
He additionally described the second when he realized the case would come with a racial component, saying he blamed the “different facet” for bringing that component into it. He stated it was at a press convention held by Karmelo’s household and their spokesperson shortly after the homicide. Metcalf attended that press convention, however was requested to depart.
ABC Information – PHOTO: Jeff Metcalf, father of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf who was stabbed to dying at a observe meet in Frisco, Texas in April 2025, speaks with ABC Information, August 24, 2026.
“I feel that day is when race was actually entered into it as a result of at that — til that time, I by no means checked out it as a black and white factor,” Metcalf stated. “It was a proper and fallacious factor. That is all. Whoever did it, my first query was, one, ‘The place’s his dad and mom? How was he raised? Why did this occur?’ Not, ‘Oh, he is black. He should be responsible.’ It by no means even crossed my thoughts, it does not matter, I do not see colour.”
Wilson, Anthony’s lead lawyer, advised ABC Information in a press release that the “authorized protection shouldn’t be supposed to decrease Austin Metcalf’s life or his household’s grief. Professional questions on racial equity, equal remedy, public entry, judicial impartiality, and the constitutional course of can’t be dismissed as merely ‘bringing race into the case.'”
After the decision, Metcalf appeared on a podcast the place he used racially charged language and disparaged Anthony’s household. He advised ABC Information that he wasn’t “backing away from it,” however urged listeners to revisit the podcast to listen to the “10 seconds earlier than the clip and also you get the context.”
“I am not going to apologize for something,” he stated. “However was it my best second? No.”
He stated he had forgiven Anthony “the primary day it occurred,” including that by not doing so he would have been “eaten up.”
“So, for my psychological well being, for my wellbeing, and for my non secular well being, I knew what I wanted to do,” he stated.
Nonetheless, Metcalf stated, he couldn’t envision a second the place he would be capable to sit with Anthony’s dad and mom and discuss all that had occurred. He stated he did not assume they “could be up for that.”
“I’d have thought they’d have reached out to me. They’d have supplied some form of condolence, some type regret, some type accountability. However that is not the best way issues performed out,” Metcalf stated. “We clearly are completely different individuals, and we select to father or mother in a different way. My son is at a cemetery, and their son is in a jail cell. I do not know what we must discuss, to be trustworthy.”
Final month, he launched the Austin Metcalf Basis alongside group organizer Dr. Bruce Carter. Carter described the inspiration’s objective as battle prevention, demonstrating to those that they’ve “the flexibility to stroll away” from disputes.
“However it’s a must to train those that earlier than they’re in that second,” he stated.
Metcalf stated he needs “to ensure no different father or mother has to really feel this manner.” He needs the world to recollect his son as an individual who “touched so many various hearts in such a short while.”
“That boy taught me stuff. I taught him, too. I used to be his dad,” Metcalf stated. “He taught lots of people lots of issues. He was an excellent child.”