BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington woman accused of stabbing an IU student in a racially motivated attack on a Bloomington Transit bus will use an insanity defense.
Police arrested 56-year-old Billie R. Davis, of Bloomington with attempted murder, aggravated assault when the assault poses a substantial risk of death, and battery with a deadly weapon, after stabbing an 18-year-old Chinese American woman, from Carmel, in the head.
Davis has pleaded not guilty to the crime. Her Attorney Kyle Dugger on Jan. 18 filed a notice of insanity defense and a motion to determine competency. He says he plans to prove Davis can’t help prepare for her case.
Davis remains in custody in the Monroe County Jail with bail in the amount of $100,000 surety or $1,000 cash bond.
A Pretrial Conference is scheduled for February 16th at 1:30 p.m. Monroe Circuit Court 9 before Judge Talley Haseman.
The Crime
On Jan. 11 at 4:45 p.m., officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded to a report of an assault that had just occurred on a Bloomington Transit bus.
The assault reportedly occurred when the bus stopped at the intersection of West 4th Street and the B-Line Trail.
A witness that had been on the bus at the time followed Davis on foot and provided responding officers with updated locations until officers arrived in the area and detained Davis.
The victim reported to investigators that she had been riding the Bloomington Transit bus and had stood up to exit the bus on 4th Street at the B-Line Trail. 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. She was transported by ambulance to IU Health Bloomington Hospital for treatment.
Davis also exited the bus and began to walk toward Kirkwood Avenue. She was detained and transported to the Monroe County Jail.
Later, once the victim’s wounds had been cleaned at the hospital, it was determined that the victim had multiple stab wounds to her head.
Investigators were able to access camera footage from inside the bus which captured the assault. The footage showed that Davis and the victim had no interactions prior to Davis stabbing her multiple times in the head as the victim waited for the bus doors to open.
