Billie Davis, an Indiana woman, has been charged with a federal hate crime in connection with a racially motivated attack and stabbing of a woman of Chinese origin on a public transportation vehicle.

Who is Billie Davis?

Born on 1966, Billie Davis stabbed a Chinese woman in a transit bus on January 11, 2023 in Bloomington Indiana.

Davis “willfully caused bodily injury to the victim and attempted to do so using a knife because of the victim’s race and national origin,” as per the statement by the Department of Justice.

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At the time of attack in January, the Bloomington Police Department said : “The victim reported to investigators that she had been riding the Bloomington Transit bus and had stood up to exit the bus. She said that as she was standing and waiting for the bus doors to open, another passenger on the bus began to strike her repeatedly in the head, which resulted in immediate pain.”

According to investigators, Davis was initially taken to the Monroe County Jail and charged for the level 5 felony offense of Battery. However, once it was established that the victim had multiple head stab wounds, investigators viewed the assault’s camera footage from inside the bus and discovered that the suspect and victim had never met before the suspect repeatedly stabbed the victim in the head as the victim waited for the bus doors to open.

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The Department of Justice reported that a federal grand jury in Evansville, Indiana, has returned a single-count indictment against Davis, accusing her of engaging in a hate crime for her racially motivated attack. The indictment also claims that the act involved an attempt to murder the victim.

The investigation into this case was carried out by the FBI Indianapolis Field Office and Bloomington Resident Agency, with support from the Bloomington Police Department.

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Following the attack in January, Indiana University’s Asian Culture Center published a statement saying it was “Outraged and heartbroken by this unprovoked act of violence.” Our hearts go out to the victim of this heinous crime, her family, and everyone in the community who has been affected by this racist brutality.”

The Department of Justice stated that Davis is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter A. Blackett for the Southern District of Indiana, but emphasized once more that “an indictment is merely an allegation. Until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court, all defendants are deemed innocent.