Protect Earlleigha, a Teen Criminalized Survivor

The state of Virginia is bringing criminal charges against Earlleigha Smith–a sixteen year old girl–for the actions she took in self-defense when she was assaulted by one of her male peers on her high school campus. On February 16th, 2024, Earlleigha was violently assaulted by a male student at school–a place that parents trust will be safe for their children. In the school cafeteria, and in the presence of a teacher who chose to do nothing, Earlleigha was punched repeatedly in the face. The assault was so severe that she had to be rushed to the hospital with a laceration above her eye– an injury that her doctors have told her will leave a permanent scar.

Instead of receiving an apology and a list of steps the school would take to prevent this from happening again, Earlleigha was suspended for ten days and is facing criminal charges–filed by the police officer who was called to campus, without the principal’s knowledge–for her efforts to defend herself.

Please show up in support of Earlleigha and her family as they fight for her safety and push back against these egregious charges. These funds will be used to support her defense, mental wellbeing, and to meet other family needs during this time.

And to demand all charges against Earlliegha be dropped, sign on to her support letter (bit.ly/protect-es).

In addition to her physical injury, Earlleigha is suffering significant emotional trauma as a result of what happened. Too frightened to attend lunch in the cafeteria, she resorted to hiding in the school bathroom during the lunch period. Her fear was well-founded: The boy who assaulted her actively continued to intimidate her after the incident, skipping his classes to come sit in her classroom, pushing up against her in PE, and having other students calling her an "op" (snitch). No steps were taken by the school to address this, despite her mother’s efforts to alert school authorities to the situation. When this boy hit Earlleigha again in PE, she did not fight back, knowing that the school would likely punish her for any efforts to defend herself a second time. Because of this, Earlleigha no longer feels safe in school and asked to be taken out of the public school system. She will now attend classes virtually the last two years of high school. The school has not guaranteed any efforts to ensure her safety and therefore she feels virtual school would be best.

Earlleigha did what any young person would do when being harassed and then attacked: She tried to defend herself. She needs to heal from what happened, and support from her teachers and community. This healing cannot occur while navigating the juvenile carceral system- even if it is through a diversion program. The whole family needs the space and time to process the sudden and significant trauma they have experienced, as any family would.