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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