Austin Metcalf’s father is speaking out after Karmelo Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison, saying he believes the outcome may have been different if Anthony’s family had shown accountability and remorse.
Jeff Metcalf, whose 17-year-old son was killed during a confrontation at a Texas high school track meet, opened up about the sentence and the pain his family continues to carry after the trial.
Anthony was convicted of murder earlier this month after a Collin County jury rejected his self-defense claim. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison in connection with Austin’s death.
In a new interview with Fox News, Jeff said he believes the way Anthony’s family handled the case may have affected how people viewed the situation, including during sentencing.
He said that if Anthony’s family had taken accountability and shown remorse, he did not believe Anthony would have received as many years as he did.
For Jeff, the issue was not only what happened at the track meet, but what came afterward. He said Anthony’s parents, Andrew Anthony and Kala Hayes, never reached out to him directly.
Even so, Jeff said he still would be willing to speak with them. That comment stood out because it came from a father who is still grieving the loss of his son while also trying to understand the choices made after the incident.
The trial drew national attention, but cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom. Jeff said he supported that decision because minors had to testify about what they witnessed.
He explained that those young witnesses were already carrying trauma from the day Austin was killed. Having cameras in the courtroom, he said, could have made an already painful process even harder for them.
Jeff said many of those students are now in counseling and will carry permanent memories from what they saw. Watching them take the stand and answer difficult questions was painful for him.
The case has remained emotional and divisive, with both families receiving intense attention online. Jeff previously faced backlash after a heated podcast appearance, but in his Fox News interview, he also condemned the threats being directed at both sides.
He said there is no reason for people to send death threats or attack Anthony’s family. He made clear that while Anthony has now faced consequences through the legal system, the public does not need to continue piling onto his relatives.
Jeff said both families have been affected, but he emphasized the difference that defines his pain most deeply: his son is not coming back.
That reality is what continues to shape every word he says about the case. For him, the sentence may bring a legal ending, but it does not bring Austin back or erase what happened at that track meet.
Anthony’s legal team has already filed an appeal, meaning the case is not finished in court. But for Austin Metcalf’s father, the deepest issue is not only the appeal, the sentence, or the verdict — it is the unanswered pain of losing his son and the remorse he says he never saw.
