Jeff Metcalfe Said no amount of imprisonment would bring back his son, Austin Metcalfe. However, he said a weight was lifted off his shoulders after a Texas jury convicted Carmelo Anthony of murder and sentenced him to 35 years in prison.
Metcalfe spoke publicly for the first time after the verdict, describing a sense of peace he hadn’t felt in more than a year.
Anthony, 19, was convicted of stabbing Austin Metcalf at a 2025 high school track meet. Prosecutors argued Anthony intentionally killed Austin, while the defense sought a lesser outcome. The jury finally found him guilty of murder on June 9 and sentenced him to 35 years in prison.
“I feel like a million pounds of weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Jeff Metcalf told CBS News Texas. He said the trial’s conclusion allowed him to begin the healing process after 14 months of grief and uncertainty.
Read more: Is there any video of the Carmelo Anthony incident? What was shown to jurors at trial
“It was the body camera footage that killed me…”
During the sentencing phase, Metcalf gave Anthony a victim impact statement. He later revealed that he spent months writing notes in preparation for that moment.
Jeff Metcalfe is subject to a gag order imposed by a judge during his murder trial.
He described his grief as more than just grief in a victim impact statement, calling it “anger” after losing his son. He told Anthony: “You failed yourself. You failed your parents. You failed society. You don’t belong in this community.”
He further explained to CBS the chaos he faced for 14 months during his murder trial. “What killed me was the body camera footage when I could hear Hunter screaming, ‘Oh, God, oh, God. My brother, my twin,'” Jeff said.
He recalled feeling helpless as a parent when he heard about his son’s pain.
He further detailed the ordeal his family faced during the trial, including death threats, doxxing and multiple phone calls to his home.
“I want them to look in the mirror. If you had kids, if your kid was murdered, would you like people dragging his name through the mud and making memes and making jokes and making really vicious comments?” Jeff said.
“Forgiveness is not for him. Forgiveness is for me.”
While Metcalf said Anthony should receive a life sentence, he also expressed some sympathy. He acknowledged that Anthony now faces decades in prison.
“I’ll even say this: I’m a little sad because I’m human. That poor boy is getting ready to go through life that I wouldn’t wish on anyone to go through,” Jeff told the news outlet.
He said the verdict brought him peace. He said: “Forgiveness is not for him. Forgiveness is for me. So I don’t carry around anger, hatred and stuff like that; it eats away at me like a cancer.”
Still, he said he plans to oppose any future requests for parole if given the chance.
‘This case has nothing to do with race’
The case has sparked heated discussions about race, especially online. However, Jeff denied the suggestion that race sparked the confrontation between Austin and Anthony.
“This case has nothing to do with race,” he said. He insisted the case should be viewed through the facts presented during the trial rather than the wider political narrative. He criticized the misinformation spread during the investigation and trial. He argued that false accusations deepened divisions and fueled public hostility to the case.
“I mean, the guys said he got jumped by four people. He got dropped, his phone was broken. You make up any story to try to keep yourself afloat.”
Anthony should be sentenced to life in prison. He said he would be present in some capacity to argue against Anthony’s 17 years of parole eligibility.
“If I were alive, yes, I would go there myself,” he said. “If not, I’ll make a video. If I get passed on, then it can be played.”
