Evansville woman charged with federal hate crime in attack on IU student

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WPTA) - A 56-year-old Evansville woman has been charged with a federal hate crime after the U.S. DOJ says she stabbed an 18-year-old of Chinese descent in a racially motivated attack.

The department says on January 11, Billie Davis willfully attacked the woman “because of the victim’s race and national origin”. 21Alive affiliate WTHR reports the victim told police she was on a bus in Bloomington when Davis attacked her.

The woman told officers she was waiting for the doors to open when Davis hit her repeatedly in the head, with doctors later finding multiple stab wounds on her head. The indictment says Davis attempted to kill the woman.

Investigators later got footage from the bus, showing the two interacted before the assault. She was preliminarily charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, and battery with a deadly weapon.

In court on Thursday, the DOJ says a federal grand jury in Evansville indicted her with a federal hate crime charge.