BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The state of Indiana moved to drop its charges against a southern Indiana woman accused of stabbing an 18-year-old woman of Chinese descent in the head as she exited a bus in Bloomington in January.
A motion to dismiss, filed by chief deputy prosecuting attorney Jeffrey Kehr on April 25, indicated the state moved to drop charges against 56-year-old Billie Davis in order to expedite federal charges against her.
"The facts that form the basis of the federal charges are the same operative facts that form the basis of the charges here. As such, it is appropriate for these charges to be dismissed in order for the federal charges to proceed without delay," the motion reads.
Davis faced charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery when the assault poses a substantial risk of death and battery by means of a deadly weapon.
Her federal jury trial is now scheduled for June 26.
She was indicted by a federal grand jury in Evansville on April 21, on a charge of willfully causing injuries to the victim due to her race and national origin, the Justice Department said. Her lawyer argued at the time Davis was mentally ill.
The victim, who is from Carmel, told police shortly after the incident she had been waiting for the doors of the Bloomington Transit bus at the intersection of West Fourth Street and the B-Line Trail when Davis stabbed her repeatedly in the head and caused her to bleed.
While at the hospital for treatment, doctors found multiple stab wounds on the student's head.
Bloomington police said in documents that they too believed the student was targeted by Davis because of her race, and that the attack was "racially motivated."
Another passenger on the bus followed Davis as they got off the bus and gave police updates on her location.
Davis was later booked into the Monroe County Jail shortly thereafter.
A report released from the San Francisco based group Stop AAPI Hate found 11,400 AANHPI people self-reported they had been a victim of a hate crime. 17% of those incidents included physical violence, 16% included avoidance or shunning, and 12% included possible civil rights violations.
AANHPI community leaders in Bloomington condemned the "hate-based" attack, and urged university leaders to fight against the "disease" of hate crimes against AANHPI students.