Austin Metcalf‘s dad got caught using a racial slur while speaking about his son’s killer.
As we previously reported, 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony was found guilty of murder on Tuesday — more than a year after stabbing the 17-year-old track star at a track meet in Frisco, Texas. He has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
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With the case over, the judge lifted the gag order, allowing the family members to speak on the whole situation for the first time. But Austin’s father already landed himself in trouble after he went on a hate-filled rant during an appearance on Sarah Fields‘ JinxedSip podcast. Per TMZ, Jeff Metcalf said he wanted to “make something racist up so y’all can go viral” before revealing his disgusting and racist nickname for Karmelo — “watermelon felon.” And he said it with a grin on his face, too.
“Let me make something racist up so y’all can go viral. I got a new name for Melo, OK? Because he was such this little boy y’all were trying to portray. How about watermelon felon? How’s that one strike you? I hope he enjoyed his first night in that cell last night because he’s going to have many nights to think about what the f**k he did.”
Jeff then went on to say he forgives Karmelo, which is hard to believe considering he’s spewing such a gross comment about the teenager. We understand the dad is hurting over the painful tragedy, but racial slurs are obviously never OK. Elsewhere, the dad continued with the hateful speech. He claimed Black people play the victim by bringing up oppression before calling out a supporter of Karmelo:
“You’re the only one in your family without a damn record. I guess that’s something to brag about in your culture.”
WTF…
He also called Karmelo’s father a “coward,” and he called Karmelo’s mother a “drunk b*****” and questioned how she could raise someone who would stab another.
Austin Metcalf's dad calls Karmelo Anthony "watermelon felon" …
Credit: JinxedSip pic.twitter.com/QAe6yaXUBD
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 12, 2026
Look, what Karmelo has been convicted of is needlessly killing another person over a dispute. That’s never OK, and he has appropriately been sent to prison for it. We don’t need to add racism on top of that. And we believe the father would ultimately agree with that as he previously asked others NOT to make this about race. So it’s just sad to see how the senseless tragedy is perpetuating pain here with unnecessary racially-charged speech. Hopefully this hurting dad can heal. No one should suffer the loss of a child.
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To learn more about civil rights issues, check out https://www.splcenter.org/.
[Image via Austin Metcalf/Instagram, Frisco Police Department]