‘I Will Be There’: Austin Metcalf’s Father Vows To Attend Every Parole Hearing For Son’s Killer

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‘I Will Be There’: Austin Metcalf’s Father Vows To Attend Every Parole Hearing For Son’s Killer

Austin Metcalf’s father vowed publicly to attend and fight back against any parole hearing for his son’s killer as long as he is alive.

Jeff Metcalf opened up about his son’s murder, the trial, the national attention and the family’s future during a CBS interview Wednesday, saying he believes Karmelo Anthony should have received a life sentence. Anthony was convicted of murder and received a sentence of 35 years, with possibility of parole after 17 years.

“I will be there,” Metcalf’s father said about a possible trial for Anthony’s parole in 17 years. “If I’m still alive, yes, I will be there in person. If not, I am going to make a video, if I’m passed on, that can be played.” (RELATED: ‘You Can’t Look Me In The Eyes, But You Can Stab My Son’: Austin Metcalf’s Parents Unload In Emotional Statement)

The judge presiding over the trial imposed a gag order on Metcalf’s father in the months leading up to the trial. The father gave his first public words on his son’s murder during the victim statement Tuesday at the end of the murder trial, calling Anthony “despicable” and telling his son’s killer their family was “robbed.”

Metcalf’s father expressed his outrage and grief — a “pure, unfiltered rage” — as a bereaved parent. Jeff Metcalf told Anthony during his victim statement: “You failed yourself. You failed your parents. You failed society. You don’t belong in this community.”

“This case was never about race,” Metcalf told CBS on Wednesday. “There’s going to be those people now, just, you know, try to throw shade on the whole trial with the jury makeup and the speed of it and that sort of thing. I mean, those are the same people that said he was jumped by four people. […] You’re going to spin whatever story to try to keep yourself afloat.”

Anthony’s attorneys filed an intent to appeal Tuesday. The murderer’s family told CBS they were “delusional” to expect a fair trial, claiming that the country’s racism declared Antony “guilty” before the trial began. Anthony’s grandmother shouted “racist” repeatedly as she left the court after the sentencing.

Jeff Metcalf condemned the “sickening” public response to the trial during his victim statement. “The moral decay is frightening,” he added. (RELATED: Here Are The Most Heinous And Absurd Remarks Made After Black Teen Convicted Of Murdering White High Schooler)

Metcalf told CBS his family has received countless death threats and been doxxed multiple times by Anthony’s supporters.

“I would hope they take a look in the mirror. And if you have children and if it was your child who was murdered, would you like people dragging his name through the mud, making memes, making jokes, and just really vile comments?”

Jeff Metcalf also opened up about the process of the family’s healing and forgiveness.

“This is day one of a long healing process. Because honestly, it’s been impossible to start healing until this trial was complete,” he said.

“What killed me was the bodycam footage when I could hear Hunter screaming, ‘Oh, God, oh, God. My brother, my twin,’” Metcalf said. “As a parent, you always want to protect your kids. And to hear my son and the fear in his voice — and I’m not there to fix it.”

“When I woke up this morning, it was a very different feeling,” Jeff Metcalf told CBS. “I felt like one million pounds had been lifted off my shoulders and this morning was the first day I woke up with a feeling of peace, comfort. Tranquility that I haven’t experienced in 14 months. And I felt awesome.”

Metcalf told his son’s murderer that he forgave him during the victim statement.

“Forgiveness was not for him. Forgiveness was for me,” he later told CBS. “So I don’t carry the rage, the hate, and that around. It will eat me up like cancer.”