Family says Hornets star LaMelo Ball drove over her son’s foot, sues player and team

CHARLOTTE — A mother is suing Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball and the team.

Angell Joseph was 11 at the time. Now he’s 12.

Tamaria McRae says last Oct. 7, after a Charlotte Hornets event, fans were outside the arena, going up to players as they left.

“[Angell] was like, ‘LaMelo, I love you. I love you, sign my ... give me your autograph. Can you sign it for me?’ McRae told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.

She says Ball did not sign anything and drove off.

“I just seen my son kind of go down and I thought maybe he had dropped something,” she said.

But she says Angell had not dropped anything, that Ball had driven over his foot, breaking it.

“This is his hero, his idol, and he got run over by him,” their lawyer, Cameron DeBrun, said.

McRae says her son has spent months recovering, in more ways than one.

“For a while, I couldn’t even recognize who my child was because, like depression, not being able to go outside and play,” she said.

“When you see your children hurt, it hurts you,” she added. “It’s been rough. It’s been real rough. I mean like I’m a strong person. This broke me. This right here, it really did.”

DeBrun says Angell’s family would have filed a claim with Ball’s insurance to pay his medical bills, but the police report is missing key information, like Ball’s insurer and even his name.

“Because that information was not provided, we only have one recourse and that‘s the court system,” DeBrun said.

Stoogenke asked him if the family is “just going after [Ball] because he’s a celebrity and he has deep pockets.”

“I’d say if that was the case, we would have done this a long time ago. They had no desire to seek legal action. They wanted healing,” DeBrun replied.

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They’re also suing the Hornets. That day was the team’s annual Purple and Teal Day and -- the family claims -- the team should have had more measures in place to protect fans who would be trying to get close to players.

The Charlotte Hornets told Action 9 it does not have a comment about the lawsuit.

Stoogenke is trying to reach Ball’s agent for a response but did not hear back in time for this report.

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