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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