Insanity defense sought for Billie Davis, woman accused in Bloomington bus stabbing
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Before a Chinese American 18-year-old was attacked by a knife-wielding woman in Bloomington, an online search for "Billie Davis" showed links to a 1960s British singer and a mental health counselor in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
But since the Jan. 11 attack aboard Bloomington Transit Bus No. 1777, a search for "Billie Davis" turns up dozens of stories about a 56-year-old Bloomington woman charged with aggravated assault, battery with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.
Headlines sum up the story of this Billie Davis. From the New York Times: "Indiana University student stabbed in ‘racially motivated’ attack, school says." The Washington Post: "Indiana University student stabbed in apparent anti-Asian attack." NPR: "Indiana's Asian American community is grieving after a bus stabbing attack."
None of the media accounts say much about Davis other than the felony charges against her and allegations the attack was hate based.
This week, the lawyer representing Davis said he is seeking an insanity defense on his client's behalf. A motion to determine competency asks Monroe Circuit Court Judge Darcie Fawcett to schedule a competency hearing and select experts to determine Davis's mental health status.
Davis "is incapable of assisting in the preparation of her defense because of mental illness," attorney Kyle Dugger's motion states.
Even in Bloomington, where debate over a new jail includes demands for treatment and compassion instead of imprisonment for people with mental illness charged with crimes, Davis is being vilified.
During this past week's city council meeting, Bloomington residents went to the microphone to share their concern about the stabbing and wondered what can be done to reduce violence and bigotry.
Deputy mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael called Bloomington "relatively safe." Chamber of Commerce director Eric Spoonmore said that's not sufficient, calling for action to make the city "very safe."
One man not at the meeting was the son of Billie Davis. He shares the public's rage over what happened that day, but wishes people were not so quick to judge, and consider the incident might have been rooted not in hate, but mental illness.
"My mom suffers from severe mental illness," Tyler Pottorff said in an email to a Herald-Times reporter. "I feel sorry for the victim, so sorry, it's a sad situation all around but people need to know how bad my mom has been crying for help especially in the last couple months," he wrote. "People need to know that she's mentally ill and this is not her."
The initial police report said the 18-year-old IU freshman from Carmel "reported that an unknown female suspect struck her on the head several times with an unknown weapon, resulting in blood flowing from her head and multiple lacerations with a complaint of pain. The suspect fled the scene."
Previous coverage:Police arrest woman in unprovoked stabbing on Bloomington bus
The stabbing victim and her parents have received inquiries and interview requests about the attack from media outlets around the country and beyond. A week after the incident they issued a two-sentence statement through a family friend asking to be left alone.
"The IU student who was attacked on a bus in Bloomington last week is recovering with her family. She appreciates the outpouring of support, but requests privacy at this time to allow further healing," the statement said.Davis has been jailed since the Jan. 11 stabbing incident, which happened as a city bus slowed to stop at Fourth street and the B-Line Trail. Her bond is $100,000 surety and $1,000 cash, which means someone will have to pay $11,000 to get her released.
A judge determined Davis can't afford to hire a lawyer and appointed the public defender's office to represent her. A bail review hearing scheduled for Jan. 25 has been postponed.
An affidavit from a detective who reviewed surveillance video from the bus describes how Davis took out and unfolded a pocket knife as the victim stood and waited for the bus doors to open. It says Davis repositioned herself, clutching the knife, stabbing the 18-year-old in the top of the head about seven times.
"Davis then folds the knife, puts it back in her pocket and returns to her seated position on the bus," the affidavit said.
Davis didn't acknowledge the victim or what happened, the detective said, as she stood and exited the bus. A witness followed her, called 911 and led police to the site a few blocks away where they apprehended Davis.
She reportedly told officers she discarded the knife along the way, and that she stabbed the woman because she was Chinese and a threat to Americans' safety.
Davis has been in trouble with the law a few times before, but never for a violent act such as this.
She pleaded guilty in 2018 to maintaining a common nuisance, and had to spend two weeks in jail for the misdemeanor. She pleaded guilty to auto theft in 2003; court records show she spent six months in the Morgan County Jail back then and two years on probation.
Pottorff is reluctant to talk about his mother's situation, afraid anything he says might put her case in jeopardy. He doesn't want to minimize the seriousness of what happened.
"My heart goes out to the victim," he said. "But my mom is also a victim because of her mental illness."
Dugger said the public outrage directed at his client is unfair. "It's much easier to demonize a person who does something you don't understand than it is to try to work out the real reason why bad things happen," Dugger said in response to an email inquiry.
He called Indiana's infrastructure for mental health care "pitiful," saying it puts an unfair burden on a criminal system "that isn't designed for or very good at treating mental illness."
He warned of the danger in making assumptions without knowing what lies beneath the surface.
"I would caution the public not to jump to conclusions about a person's thoughts or beliefs based on police claims from a single interview, and advise even more caution when the interview was taken from a person ... who may be experiencing psychosis."
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Insanity defense sought in IU student Bloomington bus stabbing
