Mom accused of assaulting teen with bat

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - An East Providence woman is facing an assault charge for allegedly hitting an 18-year-old girl with a baseball bat as the woman's daughter and another girl fought.

Kerri King appeared in court Tuesday on the felony charge of assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to police, King's daughter, 17, and a 15-year-old Pawtucket girl got into a fight at Bullocks Point Village in the Riverside area of East Providence on Sunday.

"I turn my head to the right, next thing I know, Kaylee comes around, jumps on top of my daughter and starts pounding her in the face. My daughter drops to the ground. They're fighting," King told Eyewitness News during an exclusive interview outside the courthouse Tuesday. "I'm trying to keep the crowd back so nobody jumps in and beats up my daughter."

Police said about a dozen boys and girls had watched the fight, and King allegedly struck an 18-year-old girl with the bat during the incident.

"I didn't really hit anybody with the baseball bat until I was struck," King said. "Once I was struck and put down to the ground, then the baseball bat came out. It didn't come out, it was being swung by my arm because it got caught in my sleeve and couldn't come out. So the baseball bat – what did she get hit with? My arm or, she get hit with the baseball bat? You don't really know because it never came out of the sleeve."

King said she swung the bat to keep the crowd back and get her daughter out of the fight.

"I'm protecting my daughter."