The parents of convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony are continuing to defend their son following his sentencing, insisting he acted in self-defense and arguing that the outcome of his trial was predetermined long before jurors began deliberating.
Anthony, 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison this week after a Texas jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of high school athlete Austin Metcalf. One day after the sentence was handed down, Anthony formally filed notice of appeal.
In an interview with CBS Texas, Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes, rejected the jury’s conclusion that her son intended to kill Metcalf.
“My son is no murderer. My son didn’t intend to hurt anyone,” Hayes said. “My son was defending himself, and that’s what hurts so bad.”
Hayes said she pleaded with jurors for mercy during the sentencing phase of the trial.
“To have mercy on my son. That’s what I told the jury,” she said. “I know they had their minds made up already, so really wasn’t much I could change.”
Both parents challenged the testimony presented during the trial.
“Everyone actually lied on the stand. Everyone,” Hayes said. “All of the witnesses’ statements were inconsistent, all of them.”
Anthony’s father, Andrew Anthony, similarly argued that public opinion surrounding the case had already determined the outcome before the trial began.
“He was convicted when he walked out of the jail,” Anthony said. “You looked at the news and actually, he was already convicted. If you look at it, he was already — it was already done. There was no innocence of proving guilty. He was already guilty.”
Jurors ultimately rejected Anthony’s self-defense claim after hearing testimony from multiple witnesses, including some called by the defense. Prosecutors argued that Anthony provoked the confrontation and that his use of deadly force was not justified.
Anthony was convicted in the April 2025 fatal stabbing of Metcalf during a track meet in Frisco, Texas.
The elder Anthony also claimed the family continues to receive threats in the aftermath of the case.
“People want us dead,” he said. “You see, I go look at my phone. People want us dead, they want our family dead.”
Despite the conviction and sentence, Anthony’s parents said they do not believe justice was served.
“We didn’t get justice,” Andrew Anthony said. “A lot of things that we missed that should have been handled a certain way. However, we couldn’t say anything. We did what was instructed. We was told — we was told, so we just did what we was told.”
Anthony’s appeal is now moving forward, beginning what could be a years-long effort to challenge both his conviction and sentence.
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