Jury rejected teenager’s self-defense claim, convicted him of murder and sentenced him to 35 years in prison
Families on both sides are still devastated, and public opinion is turning against the convicted teenager
The teenager’s parents claim he was not given a fair trial and plan to appeal the verdict
Source: The Dallas Morning News/Hearst Newspapers/Getty
Despite the pain and frustration this family must feel, they are resilient and determined to achieve justice.
CBS News reports that the family to Carmelo Anthony is speaking out publicly for the Texas teenager following the murder conviction and 35-year prison sentence handed down for the fatal stabbing of fellow student-athlete Austin Metcalf, insisting the tragedy has left two families devastated and that “no one wins” from the outcome.
In a post-sentence interview, Anthony’s parents continued to maintain that their son acted in self-defense during the April 2025 confrontation at a Frisco (Texas) high school football meet that ended in 17-year-old Metcalf’s death. An all-white Collin County jury rejected that argument after less than three hours of deliberation and found Anthony guilty of murder before sentencing him to 35 years in prison.
Anthony’s mother, Kala Hayes, said her son “didn’t mean to hurt anybody” and argued he was trying to defend himself during the altercation. His father, Andrew Anthony, expressed sympathy for the Metcalf family while acknowledging the immense pain the case had caused.
“It’s unfortunate, this is no winner. We’ve all been hurt by this. Everyone, everyone.”
That said, Anthony still doesn’t feel his son got a fair trial.
“They did a number on us,” Anthony said. “We didn’t get justice. A lot of things that were missed should have been handled in a certain way.”
The family also pushed back against what they describe as widespread public hostility around the case. In a separate interview with CBS Texas, Anthony’s parents said they have continued to receive death threats also after the conviction and sentencing. Andrew Anthony claimed members of the public still want his family to be harmed despite the guilty verdict. The family believes public opinion turned against Karmelo long before the trial began and has vowed to continue fighting the verdict through the appeals process.
“People want us dead,” Anthony said. “After they still got what they wanted, they still want us dead. I go look at my phone, people want us dead. They want our family dead.”
Although the trial has ended, the emotional fallout is still severe for both families. The Metcalfs continue to mourn the loss of Austin, while Karmelo’s family faces the reality of their son beginning a long prison sentence.
“That poor boy is going through a life that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but he deserves what he gets because we are all responsible for our actions,” said (Jeff) Metcalf, Austin’s father. “What it comes down to for me is this: Austin will never walk through that door again and never give me a hug.”
As Anthony’s legal team prepares an appeal, his parents say they remain convinced the justice system got the case wrong, even though a jury reached the opposite conclusion.
