BLOOMINGTON — An Indiana woman has been sentenced to six years in prison for attacking an Asian woman while riding a city bus in Bloomington in 2023.
Billie Davis, 57, pleaded guilty to committing a federal hate crime in September. She will spend six years in prison with three years of supervised release.
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Court documents say on January 11, 2023, an 18-year-old woman of Chinese descent, who was a student at Indiana University, was riding a Bloomington Transit bus. Davis boarded the bus and sat behind the student.
When the student stood up to exit the bus, court documents say Davis stabbed her in the head seven to 10 times with a folding knife.
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The victim had multiple stab wounds and cuts, which required medical attention, including sutures and staples, according to police.
When questioned by police, Davis said she attacked the victim because she was Asian so that there was “one less enemy.”
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“Every person deserves to feel safe in their own community, and no one should be made to fear violence on their way to school simply because of who they are,” Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said. “Violent hate should have no safe harbor in Indiana or anywhere in our great country.”
