'Baton Attacker' Breaks Her Silence After Injuring Opponent

Yahoo

11-03-2025

Over the weekend, a viral video showed what appeared to be a violent attack during a track meet as one girl was struck in the head by a baton during a relay race. However, the apparent attacker has broken her silence and is claiming that it was an accident.
The incident occurred during the 4×200 meter relay at the VHSL Class 3 State Indoor Championships at Liberty University on Friday. During the second leg of the race, Brookville High School junior Kaelen Tucker attempted to cut into lane one during a battle for second place. As Tucker pulled out in front, she was struck in the head from behind by her opponent's baton.
'When we get onto the other side of the track we have to cross to lane one, you have to merge in, and as I was coming up on her she kind of made me get cut off a little bit so I backed away,' Tucker explained to WSLS.
'When we got to the curve she kept bumping me in my arm and when we got off the curve I finally passed her and that was when she hit me with the baton.'
The video of the incident seems to show her opponent, Alaila Everett, winding up and striking Tucker in the head with her baton, and the strike was so strong that a doctor later diagnosed her with a concussion and a possible skull fracture. However, Everett is insisting that it was all an accident.
"I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose," Everett told Wavy.com.
Everett claimed that she struck Tucker accidentally after she lost her balance.
"After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance and, when I pumped my arms again, she got hit," she said.
Everett says that she has since received death threats and been called racial slurs as a result of the incident.
"They are assuming my character, calling me ghetto and racial slurs, death threats," she said. "All of this off of a nine-second video."
After the race, Tucker expressed frustration that she did not receive an apology from Everett or anyone else. Everett claims she has tried to reach out to Tucker aftewards but has been blocked on social media.