Charlotte Hornets star guard LaMelo Ball has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly striking a child with his vehicle, WSOC TV reports.

The alleged incident took place in October 2023, after the Hornets hosted "Purple and Teal Day at the Hive”, a fan-centric event at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

According to the lawsuit, Tamaria McRae and her son Angell Joseph, who is now 12, were standing outside the arena's employee entrance when Ball left the premises with his SUV.

McRae said that her son approached Ball’s vehicle in hopes of getting an autograph.

McRae recalls, “[Angell] was like, ‘LaMelo, I love you. I love you, sign my ... give me your autograph? Can you sign it for me?’”

Instead, Ball “accelerated forward” in his vehicle without signing the autograph.

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

McRae then noticed that Angell had not dropped anything but that Ball allegedly drove over his foot and fracturing it.

Cameron DeBrun, the family’s attorney, shared that McRae and Joseph were extremely distressed following the alleged incident.

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

After his injury, Joseph struggled physically and mentally to recover from the trauma of the incident.

“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. It’s been rough. It’s been real rough. I mean, like I’m a strong person. This broke me.”

DeBrun says that his client sought to file a claim with Ball’s insurance to cover the medical expenses, but Ball’s name and insurer was not listed in the police report.

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

Per the suit, which also lists the Hornets as a defendant for not having the proper protections in place at the event, McRae alleged that the injury “caused severe physical pain and emotional distress from a player her son considered his hero.” 

McRae is seeking $25,000 in damages.