FRISCO, Texas (KTVT) – The photos of Austin that hang in Jeff Metcalf’s home are all he has left of his twin son. Yet, despite the overwhelming grief, he says a dream provided him some comfort on Thursday.
He came to me and said it’s OK,” Metcalf recalled. “Did that give you comfort? God gives me comfort, and if it weren’t for my faith, I wouldn’t be here.
RELATED: Student stabbed to death at Texas track meet, teen suspect charged with murder
Metcalf spoke in a state of shock just a mile away from where his son, Austin, was fatally stabbed at Kuykendall Stadium during a UIL District 11-5A track meet. His other son, Hunter, witnessed the horrifying event and tried desperately to save Austin’s life, holding his hands over the wound as Austin stopped breathing.
“My other son who was there, I was holding his hands on the hole trying to save his life,” Metcalf said. “He told me I looked at him, his eyes—he was gone, he wasn’t breathing.”
Hundreds gathered at a Frisco church Thursday evening to honor Austin, a standout player on the Memorial High School football team, who was tragically taken from them.
The stabbing occurred around 10 a.m. Wednesday, when 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Centennial High School, allegedly brought a knife to the track meet and fatally stabbed Austin in the chest. Anthony has been charged with murder.
Metcalf expressed his disbelief that someone could bring a weapon to such an event.
He brought a knife to a track meet and he murdered my son by stabbing him in the heart,” Metcalf told NBC News.
An arrest warrant obtained by KXAS NBC DFW revealed that Anthony admitted to stabbing Austin, claiming he acted in self-defense. When officers referred to him as the “alleged suspect,” Anthony reportedly responded, “I’m not alleged, I did it.”
As he grieves, Metcalf is questioning whether the Frisco school district did enough to ensure safety at the event. “If there’s a precedent or some precursor that maybe this could’ve been prevented, I don’t know,” he said. “I am concerned with the lack of security—how does someone bring a knife to a track meet?”
The motive behind the stabbing remains unclear, but Metcalf says it began when his sons and members of the Memorial High track team questioned why Anthony was standing near them instead of with his own school’s team.
“Each high school had their own section to sit, and they went to set up the memorial tent,” Metcalf explained. “They heard this individual behind them speaking, and they turned around and said, ‘Who are you?’ and he said, ‘I’m Melo,’ and he had a Centennial tracksuit on. They said, ‘You’re in the wrong spot, you need to go sit with your team,’ and then it escalated.”
Anthony remains in the Frisco City Jail, facing a first-degree murder charge with a $1 million bond. The investigation is ongoing as authorities work to piece together what led to this tragic incident.
