The father of Austin Metcalf says the former superintendent who let his son’s 𝘬iᩚller receive a high school diploma “folded like a cheap tent” under pressure. (NewsNation)

(NewsNation) — The father of Austin Metcalf says the former superintendent who let his son’s 𝘬iᩚller receive a high school diploma “folded like a cheap tent” under pressure.

Jeff Metcalf’s son was stabbed to dєatᩚh by Karmelo Anthony at a Frisco-area track meet in April 2025.

Anthony was convicted of murder last week and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

In the days since the verdict, Metcalf has been speaking out publicly about how he believes Frisco Independent School District and its then-superintendent, Mike Waldrip, mishandled the case from the start, according to Fox News.

Metcalf told Fox that Waldrip folded under pressure from Anthony’s supporters, who had pushed the district to let Anthony graduate despite the murder charge. He went further in a separate podcast appearance, where he called Waldrip “the most spineless, coward piece of sh– I’ve ever met in my entire life.” TMZ reported that he made several racially charged statements directed at Anthony during the interview.

Metcalf told Fox that Anthony never returned to school after the stabbing and said the district still had the authority to withhold his diploma. He’s also claimed the student handbook lists murder as grounds for mandatory expulsion, meaning, in his view, that Anthony should never have been cleared to graduate at all. Anthony was convicted of murder more than a year after stabbing Metcalf.

NewsNation reported last spring that the school decided Anthony could graduate from Centennial High School while on bail, despite the first-degree murder charge. He wasn’t allowed to walk the stage or take part in the ceremony itself.

Anthony’s family representative, Dominique Alexander, said at the time that the family believed Anthony was innocent and planned to argue self-defense.