Rally supporting HS runner charged with assault and battery after striking opponent with relay baton reportedly draws over 50



A rally last week supporting the Virginia high school runner charged with assault and battery after striking her opponent in the head with a baton during a state championship relay reportedly drew more than 50.

The rally for Alaila Everett took place Thursday evening outside of I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, WTKR-TV reported.

'My baby didn’t do it. I know who I raised. I’m gonna stand up for mines 10 toes down.'

A tearful Everett thanked her supporters at the rally and insisted the strike to the head of Brookville High School runner Kaelen Tucker was accidental, the station said.

"Nobody else wanted to hear my story 'cept for people that know me and people that know I would never do anything like that," Everett said between sobs. "I would never harm anybody. I'm not a fighter ... I wouldn't even do that on purpose."

You can view video here of Everett speaking at the rally.

On March 4, during the Virginia State High School League Championships at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Everett and Tucker were the second legs of the 4x200-meter relay. During the race, Tucker passed Everett, and WSET-TV said Tucker felt a blow to the back of her head, and the hit knocked Tucker to the track's surface and out of the race.

You can view video here of the baton strike.

Judges disqualified the I.C. Norcom relay team for "contact interference," the station said, adding that doctors have been treating Tucker for a concussion and a possible skull fracture. You can watch WSET's video report on the incident here.

But Everett in a WAVY-TV interview said the baton hit was accidental. She repeated her contention during an interview that aired last week on "Good Morning America."

Following the incident, the I.C. Norcom High School athletic director and Everett's father apologized to the Tucker family in a phone call, ABC News said, citing Tucker's parents.

Everett told WAVY that people have been "calling me ghetto, racist slurs, death threats — all of this just because of a nine-second video."

Bethany Harrison, the commonwealth's attorney for the city of Lynchburg, last week told ABC News that a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery was issued against Everett in connection with the incident.

Previous to the charge, WAVY said Everett's family was served with court papers, and the Tuckers wanted a protective order.

At the rally, James Boyd — president of the Portsmouth NAACP — told the crowd that Everett "is not an attacker. Alaila is an honor student at Norcom High School. We are not going to sit back and allow the criminal justice system to define her," WTKR reported.

Everett's mother, Zeketa Cost, stood at her daughter's side during the rally and said, “My baby didn’t do it. I know who I raised. I’m gonna stand up for mines 10 toes down,” WTKR added.

Germain Green, a Norcom parent of three student athletes, organized the rally and told WTKR, "I thought it was devastating to watch what this young lady was going through. As a former athlete that ran track, this is unintentional."

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HS runner who struck opponent in head with baton charged with assault and battery



The Virginia high school runner who was caught on video striking her opponent in the head with a baton during a state championship relay event last week has been charged with assault and battery.

Bethany Harrison, the commonwealth's attorney for the city of Lynchburg, on Wednesday told ABC News that a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery was issued against Alaila Everett, a senior at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, in connection with the incident.

'We are committed collectively to ensuring that the criminal justice system, which we feel is not warranted in this situation, is executed fairly and based on due process.'

You can view video here of the baton hit.

On March 4, during the Virginia State High School League Championships at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Everett and Kaelen Tucker, a junior from Brookville High School, were the second legs of the 4x200-meter relay.

During the race, Tucker passed Everett, and WSET-TV said Tucker felt a blow to the back of her head, and the hit knocked Tucker to the track's surface and out of the race.

Judges disqualified the I.C. Norcom relay team for "contact interference," the station said, adding that doctors have been treating Tucker for a concussion and a possible skull fracture.

You can watch WSET's video report on the incident here.

But Everett in a WAVY-TV interview said the baton hit was accidental. She repeated her contention during an interview that aired Tuesday on "Good Morning America."

Everett and her parents told ABC News that their video shows Tucker was running too close to Everett when Tucker tried to move ahead, after which Everett lost her balance leading to an accidental baton strike.

Everett emphasized to WAVY, “I know my intentions, and I would never hit somebody on purpose."

Following the incident, the I.C. Norcom High School athletic director and Everett's father apologized to the Tucker family in a phone call, ABC News said, citing Tucker's parents.

Everett told WAVY that people have been "calling me ghetto, racist slurs, death threats — all of this just because of a nine-second video."

Because of that, the Portsmouth NAACP told ABC News it's reviewing the incident, along with the slurs and threats Everett said she's been receiving.

"We are committed collectively to ensuring that the criminal justice system, which we feel is not warranted in this situation, is executed fairly and based on due process," the organization said in a Wednesday statement, ABC News noted, adding that it's calling for Everett to be "void of any criminal proceedings."

Previous to the charges filed against Everett, WAVY said her family was served with court papers, and the Tuckers wanted a protective order.

You can view WAVY's interview with the Everett family here and the station's report on the charge against Everett here.

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Horrifying viral video shows male body-slamming woman headfirst on road after fender bender; suspect released on $2,500 bail



A horrifying viral video shows male body-slamming a woman headfirst on a Massachusetts road last week after a fender bender.

The incident occurred at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 1A just before 9 a.m. in Attleboro after the victim hit the male's vehicle from behind, WBZ-TV reported. Attleboro is just shy of an hour southwest of Boston and near the Rhode Island border.

'I called my friend, and I started crying, and I said "I can't feel my knees, I can't feel my knees." I needed her to go get my kids, so she had to go pick up my children, and all I could think was I'm probably never going to be able to walk again.'

“He kept slamming on his brakes, and then when we got to the intersection, we hit a light, and he was in front of me," Hailea Soares told WHDH-TV. "As soon as we went through, we didn’t even make it across, and he slammed on his brakes, so I hit him."

A witness told police the male — identified as 26-year-old Gladior Kwesiah of Pawtucket, Rhode Island — banged on the roof of Soares' car and pulled her out of her vehicle, WBZ said.

That account appears to conflict with WHDH's report, which notes that Soares said she exited her car to take video of the damage, but Kwesiah took her phone. However, WCVB-TV reported that Soares recorded the moment her attacker came for her in her car.

The witness from WBZ's report said Kwesiah and Soares were arguing, and when she told him to leave her alone, Kwesiah allegedly picked up Soares and body-slammed her to the ground. A witness recorded video of the incident, WBZ added.

A video report from WJAR-TV shows the body slam; viewer discretion is advised.

'I might die right now'

"The only thing that I could think of was I knew I was in the air, and by the time I was realizing I was in the air and I thought to myself, like, 'I might die right now,' I had already hit the ground. And I didn't realize that I had hit the ground," Soares told WBZ. "It was like a weird sensation I felt on my face, and that's when I realized I was on the ground, and I rolled over, and there was blood dripping all over my hands."

Soares — a mother of two who stands five feet tall and weighs 110 pounds — told WCVB she was body-slammed twice. She told WHDH that after the second body slam, she wasn't able to get back up.

Police told WBZ they found Soares crying and bleeding from her head on the road, after which she was hospitalized with a broken knee, broken foot, an injury to her eye socket, and a serious injury to her skull.

'I don't know if he was having a bad day, I don't know what that was, but if that's the type of person he is, then I don't think he belongs in society with the rest of us.'

Soares was released from the hospital Friday, WBZ said, adding that she feared the worst: "I called my friend, and I started crying, and I said 'I can't feel my knees, I can't feel my knees.' I needed her to go get my kids, so she had to go pick up my children, and all I could think was I'm probably never going to be able to walk again."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Soares’ recovery, WHDH said.

Standing over her

Police told WCVB that Kwesiah was standing over Soares when they arrived to arrest him.

Kwesiah was taken to the Attleboro Police Department, where he was booked and charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon with serious injury resulting, malicious destruction of property, and operating without a license, WHDH reported.

“Inappropriate and unacceptable conduct stemming from what was essentially a minor motor vehicle crash,” Attleboro Police Sergeant Kevin Sellers added to WHDH.

Kwesiah was arraigned Friday in Attleboro District Court, WBZ said, adding that the court set bail in the amount of $2,500 cash along with a condition that Kwesiah has no contact with the victim. Attleboro Police on Tuesday morning confirmed to Blaze News that the suspect was released on $2,500 bail.

"I don't know if he was having a bad day, I don't know what that was, but if that's the type of person he is, then I don't think he belongs in society with the rest of us," Soares noted to WBZ.

You can view WBZ's video report here.

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