'Large amount of blood': Woman whacks opponent with pickleball paddle after victim criticized her son's style of play, cops say

Inset: Michele Lauren Bannister (St. Johns County Sheriff's Office). Background: Treaty Park in St. Augustine, Florida (Google Maps).

An argument between two Florida pickleball players that started over who was supposed to pick up the ball turned violent when a woman allegedly hit her opponent several times with a paddle after the victim criticized her son.

Michele Lauren Bannister stands accused of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and false identification given to a law enforcement officer.

The incident occurred around 10 a.m. May 31 at Treaty Park in St. Augustine, a probable cause arrest affidavit by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said. Bannister and the man were playing pickleball when the match turned salty over the retrieval of a ball.

According to cops, the victim went over to Bannister's son to "critique" his playing style once the match was over. This apparently enraged Bannister, who "interjected herself" into the argument.

"The defendant then struck the victim in the head several times with a pickle ball paddle, leaving injury to his face that caused several cuts and a large amount of blood," cops wrote.

Deputies were trying to identify the suspect, who allegedly gave cops a fake name, saying several times it was "Aiyanna Lei." But she gave cops her real home address, which allowed them to identify her.

In an interview with police, she allegedly claimed she was protecting her son, but detectives determined that based on victim and witness statements, there was not "an imminent threat to life, limb, or a propensity of violence about to occur."

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Defense attorney Rosemarie Peoples of the Smith & Eulo law firm told the St. Johns Citizen that her client was preventing a "violent attack" against her son.

"Michele Bannister is a mom, nurse, and model citizen," Peoples told the outlet in a statement. "She is wrongly accused of a crime; her actions were needed to stop a violent attempt to attack her young son. I expect that a jury of her peers will fully exonerate her heroic efforts to defend her child."

Deputies arrested Bannister and took her to the St. Johns County Jail, where she has since posted bond. Her next court date is set for July 28.