Disorder erupted at a press conference in Dallas on Thursday afternoon when the spokesperson for Karmelo Anthony’s family targeted Austin Metcalf’s father, who was removed from the event before it commenced. Jeff Metcalf, the father of Austin, tried to attend the news briefing led by Dominique Alexander, the leader of the Next Generation Action Network, an activist organization advocating on behalf of Anthony.
Anthony is accused of fatally stabbing fellow 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at an April 2 high school track meet in Frisco, Texas.
The press conference was disrupted when Jeff Metcalf, Austin’s father, was ejected from the event. He was wanting to attend the conference orchestrated by Dominique Alexander, who heads the Next Generation Action Network, a group championing for Karmelo Anthony’s cause.
Jeff Metcalf with his son, Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, who was allegedly stabbed in the chest by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Frisco Centennial High School. (Courtesy Jeff Metcalf)
An emotional Hayes spoke only briefly.
“Our family has been under attack,” she said. “Whatever you think, what happened between Karmelo and the Metcalf boy, my three younger children, my husband and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about.”
She said such lies have put her family in danger, along with the community and those involved in the investigation.
“Our address and my husband’s previous employer’s address has been put on all social media platforms,” she said. “My husband had to take a leave of absence because he’s afraid of what may happen to our family.”
She said her husband’s mental health is deteriorating, and her daughter is afraid to sleep in her own bed.
Hayes echoed Alexander’s sentiment that the GiveSendGo funds have not been used by the family at all.
Karmelo Anthony’s mother, Kayla Hayes, speaks at a press conference Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Next Generation Action Network via Facebook)
After Hayes spoke, Alexander returned to the issue of race.
“Because these racist bigots try to prevent us from standing up for our baby, our boy, he should be afforded the same rights that Kyle Rittenhouse had, Daniel Penny and all the people who have claimed whatever their defense was – he should be afforded the same right,” Alexander said.
“Nobody in the public media has one video, but we got the video of Kyle Rittenhouse with an AK-47 shooting three people in the back,” he said. “We got that, and he raised more than $2 million publicly, and nobody said anything about that.”
Jeff Metcalf previously told Fox News, “I want to clarify something right off to start because I’ve already heard some rumors and gossip. This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing.
“Do not politicize this. It’s not … this is a human being thing. This person made a bad choice and affected both his family and my family forever.”
Metcalf added that “Austin was the light of my life.”
He said on “America Reports” that Austin died in the arms of his twin brother, Hunter, who desperately tried to stop the bleeding.
“They were so tight. They had the best bond. They were best friends,” Metcalf said of the pair. “And now I have to focus on taking care of Hunter.”
Metcalf also mentioned forgiveness.
“People ask me, how can you forgive this other person? I said I forgive the other person because the forgiveness is not for him. The forgiveness is for me so I can have peace,” he said. “His life is destroyed. My life is destroyed.”
Austin Metcalf, 16, died at a track meet after getting stabbed. (FOX DFW Chopper)
Metcalf was killed after an altercation under a Memorial High School tent at the track meet. The arrest report from the incident said Anthony “grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it” and told Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens.”
In the next moment, a witness told police, Anthony “reached into his bag and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin.”
The witness told the officer Anthony fled after the stabbing. Metcalf died in his twin brother’s arms.
Anthony told the responding school resource officer, who cuffed him upon arrival, he was protecting himself. The officer also noted blood on Anthony’s left middle finger.
One responding officer referred to Anthony as the alleged suspect. Anthony made a “spontaneous statement,” according to the report, saying, “I’m not alleged, I did it.”
Anthony also asked the officers if Metcalf was “going to be OK” and asked if what happened could be considered “self-defense,” the report said.
Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo contributed to this report.
