A woman who was accused of stabbing an Asian American student at Indiana University Bloomington last year because she said she had “noticed” the victim was Chinese has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime charge, court documents show.
Billie Davis, 57, entered the plea last week after she was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with felony violation of the Hate Crime Act. It comes after Davis repeatedly stabbed the 18-year-old student in the head on a city transit bus, later telling law enforcement that she did it so that there would be “one less enemy,” the plea agreement showed.
Davis, who will be sentenced in December, faces a maximum of six years in prison, according to the plea agreement. She will also be mandated to serve probation upon release and pay the victim restitution.
Davis’ attorneys, Leslie D. Wine and H. Samuel Ansell, told NBC News that the plea agreement, reached through “extensive negotiations,” will allow the court to consider both the offense as well as her “diminished capacity” due to mental illness.
“Ms. Davis is now properly medicated for her mental health conditions and has consistently expressed her remorse for the pain she caused the victim and her family,” the attorneys said in an email.
The student, who has only been identified as Z.F., was seated near the back of the bus when Davis boarded and sat down nearby, according to the plea agreement. When the student attempted to get off at her stop, Davis stabbed her seven to 10 times in the head with a knife. Davis eventually left the bus, while another passenger followed her in an effort to confront her about the violence.
“The Defendant told the passenger that the female she attacked was going to blow up the bus because she was Asian,” the plea agreement said, adding that Davis also shouted a racial slur at the passenger.
After police arrived and arrested Davis, she told them that she ”snapped a minute ago, I hit some girl,” and…
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