Austin Metcalf’s father Jeff Metcalf describes sorrow, sympathy, and hard-won forgiveness after Karmelo Anthony was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison for Austin’s fatal stabbing at a 2025 Texas track meet. Jeff says he plans
By the time the court reached its decision, Jeff Metcalf had to live inside two emotions at once: the grief that never left after losing his 17-year-old son, Austin Metcalf, and the cold shock of watching Karmelo Anthony, now 19, learn his fate.
Anthony was convicted of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf during a 2025 Texas track meet. and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. In the aftermath. Metcalf—who has been vocal about the pain of the loss—said the moment still moved something in him as he reflected on what came next.
“I’ll even say this: I had a little bit of sorrow because I’m human. ” Jeff Metcalf told CBS News. describing the range he felt as the sentence was handed down. He added that he couldn’t ignore what Anthony will face for decades—“that poor boy is fixing to experience a life that I would not wish upon anyone.”.
But forgiveness, for Jeff Metcalf, did not mean reconciliation.
He said he decided to forgive as part of his own healing process. “Forgiveness was not for him. Forgiveness was for me,” he said. “So I don’t carry the rage, the hate, and that around; it will eat me up like cancer.”
Even so, Jeff Metcalf made his position clear on punishment. While he spoke with compassion, he also said he still believes Anthony should have received a harsher sentence.
The case doesn’t end with a prison term, either. The sentence includes the possibility of a future parole review. and Metcalf said he intends to fight any attempt to secure Anthony’s release. “If I’m still alive, yes, I will be there in person,” he said. “If not, I am going to make a video. If I’m passed on, that can be played.”.
As the highly publicized case continues to circulate online. Jeff Metcalf also pushed back against claims that race played a role in the outcome. “This case was never about race,” he said. He pointed to the way people are trying to reshape the story—mentioning comments about the jury makeup. the speed of the trial. and allegations about what happened during the incident.
“There’s going to be those people now. just. you know. trying to throw shade on the whole trial with the jury makeup and the speed of it and that sort of thing. ” Metcalf said. “I mean, those are the same people that said he was jumped by four people. You’re going to spin whatever story to try to keep yourself afloat.”.
The sentencing brought the families face-to-face with a new reality—one defined not just by the sentence length, but by the long stretch of life milestones that will never return for Austin Metcalf and will never arrive for his family.
That pain was voiced sharply in court by Austin’s twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, who delivered an emotional victim impact statement after Anthony received 35 years in prison.
Hunter spoke directly to Anthony about everything Austin meant and everything that was stolen. “You took a son, a brother, a friend, and my best friend, from this world. You took someone from me who was supposed to be an uncle, godfather to my kids. Now I want everything taken from you,” Hunter said, according to CBS Texas. He also reportedly told Anthony, “eventually your name will be forgotten.”.
Between Jeff Metcalf’s insistence that forgiveness kept him from being consumed and Hunter Metcalf’s promise that the loss won’t be buried quietly, the court’s decision has done what verdicts always do: it closed one chapter and opened a longer one—harder, slower, and lasting.
Austin Metcalf Jeff Metcalf Karmelo Anthony sentence 35 years first-degree murder Texas track meet parole review victim impact statement Hunter Metcalf forgiveness