Woman Indicted in Standoff at Doctor's Home

A woman who blamed her doctor for her son's cerebral palsy was indicted yesterday by a Loudoun County grand jury on charges of breaking into his Leesburg home, abducting him and his wife and using a firearm, the county's chief prosecutor said.

If convicted, Michele Davidson, 39, of Ashburn could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison on the felony charges.

On the morning of May 31, Davidson, armed with a handgun, drove to the home of Chauncey Stokes, her former employer and the doctor who delivered her son Grant, who suffers from spastic quadriplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. She rang the bell, entered the house and demanded to speak to Stokes, while his 11-year-old daughter ran to a neighbor's house for help, according to witness testimony.

During the incident, Davidson allegedly put the gun to her head and threatened to kill herself, but said she would only do so after making Stokes and his wife, LaSheryl, wait the same amount of time she said she was forced to wait before her son's delivery last year: one hour, thirty minutes. Davidson blamed her son's condition on that delay.

Outside the courthouse in Leesburg yesterday, about 50 of Davidson's friends and relatives -- several of whom have had babies delivered by Davidson, a nurse midwife -- held a demonstration and pleaded for officials to show clemency in the case. They prayed for Davidson and Stokes.

Davidson's mother, husband and four children were there, including Grant. One little girl standing near the family held a sign that read, "Send my friend's Mommy home!"

"I don't want people to judge my wife just based on this," said Davidson's husband, Nathan. "There's a lot more to my wife than just this. My wife has done good her whole life. Now this. It's a nightmare."

Michele Davidson's mother, Geri Lewis, warned the crowd of the dangers of postpartum depression, which, she said, was what drove Davidson to go to Stokes's house. "It could have been you, it could have been your sisters," Lewis told the crowd. "This could happen to any woman who has a baby."

Davidson's attorney, Todd. F. Sanders, yesterday called the charges too harsh, saying that Davidson "had no intention of harming anyone but herself."

"I'm disappointed that the prosecutor's office felt it was necessary to bring charges that require a mandatory minimum 13 years [on the three firearms charges] in prison if convicted," Sanders said. "I believe when this case is ultimately tried and all the facts are brought before the court, no jury or judge would feel that any jail time is warranted in this case."

Commonwealth's Attorney James E. Plowman said it was up to Davidson's attorney to demonstrate that the charges are not appropriate. "At this point, I think it's her attorney's obligation to put forth any sort of mitigating evidence if they want us to consider it," Plowman said.

Since word of her arrest spread, friends and neighbors have rallied to Davidson's cause. They have attended court appearances to show support and set up a fund to assist with her family's medical expenses and legal fees, which could top $100,000, Davidson's family said.

Lewis said her daughter is not a threat to anyone and should not be incarcerated. "What happened, happened because of a sickness," Lewis said. "She is on new medications; she's perfectly fine now."

The standoff at the Stokes residence lasted between 15 and 20 minutes before sheriff's deputies arrived. They talked Davidson into surrendering her gun before arresting her, according to testimony. The gun contained a loaded magazine but no bullet was in the chamber, meaning that if she had pulled the trigger, it would not have fired, a sheriff's deputy testified.

Stokes has declined to comment on the case and the circumstances surrounding the delivery of Davidson's son, now 15 months old. Stokes's attorney, Paul Walkinshaw, declined to comment yesterday.

Davidson has been detained since the abduction, and some of her children recently visited her in jail, Lewis said.

"I took the children to see [Davidson] on Saturday," Lewis said yesterday. "It was the most heart-wrenching thing I had ever seen. . . . They see her through glass. They don't understand. They want their mother, to hug and kiss her. I didn't want to cry in front of her, but I couldn't help it."