A California family has filed a police report after their daughter was brutally punched in the throat during a basketball game.
Moreover, the family is accusing the attacker’s own mother instigating the assault.
The attacker has also been identified as the daughter of a former NBA player, though names have not been released.
Alice Ham filed the report but also posted video online that shows her daughter, Lauryn, being sucker-punched by a much larger girl at a basketball tournament in Garden Grove, California.
The shocking video shows the violent attacker being knocked over by another player and then crashing into Lauryn, who was merely standing behind the falling player. The two regain their feet and begin walking down the court when the assailant delivered a brutal roundhouse swing without warning that connected with Lauryn’s chin and throat sending the smaller girl crumpling to the floor.
Lauryn’s mother posted the video to Instagram saying that the incident “makes me SICK to my stomach.”
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Alice Ham went on to explain, “This happened to MY DAUGHTER at her game yesterday. There is absolutely no place for something like this in basketball, I don’t care how famous you are!! This mom told her daughter to ‘go and hit her’ and my kid gets an unprovoked sucker punch. I’m sorry but it’s everything that’s wrong with youth sports. The girl and her mom showed absolutely no remorse and offered no apology. Youth sports needs to change.”
“Of course, I was in total shock,” Mrs. Ham told Channel 7. “I just couldn’t believe that could happen to my child.”
“You always see things on video and you never think it could happen to you. To actually see it and know that was my kid just hurt me so bad,” she added.
“I want the daughter and the mom held accountable,” Ham said. “Because this type of behavior is reprehensible and cannot happen in youth sports.”
An attorney for the violent attacker released a statement to ABC-7 calling for “perspective” and then attacking people who criticized the attacker on social media.
“My client and her family are deeply and sincerely remorseful. This is an unfortunate incident involving a very hard working and promising student athlete. We must keep some perspective and keep in mind that this is a young minor who has made a mistake,” attorney Brett Greenfield told the station.
“The comments on social media in response to this incident are a cause of great concern for both the minor and her family. We would respectfully request that she be given the benefit of the doubt and that her privacy be respected given her young age,” he added.
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