Olympian Danielle Scott was stabbed while trying to save her sister's life. Now, she fights to find her way forward

BATON ROUGE, La. — What would you do after the most devastating night of your life?

How would you process the trauma of watching your sister die in front of you — stabbed to death as you tried to protect her?

How would you cope with wounds in both of your hands and across your left leg, lacerations that leave you unable to care for yourself or your 8-year-old daughter while the accused killer — your sister's husband — is running free?

How would you get through all of that?

How do you even begin to get through all of that?

For Danielle Scott, the only five-time Olympian in the history of U.S. volleyball, the answers have not come easily. The past six months since a fatal act of violence — which left her sister, Stefanie Vallery, dead and one other family member injured — have tested her in ways that little else could. But all along, the two-time Olympic silver medalist has tried to digest tragedy with grace — to count her blessings even as she counts her woes.

"You have to have the will to want something positive to come out of maybe not-so-positive situations," Scott says in an interview in her native Baton Rouge, on a mild, sunny Tuesday this month. "Have faith. Have a hope. And live life. Just live life."

Scott knows this is not a particularly unique sentiment, nor an especially profound one. But in the months since the Nov. 18 attack, it's how she gets by.

She is still recovering from her injuries, but blessed to be healing well. Grieving, but blessed to have a relationship with God. Fearful, but blessed to have the support of so many family members and friends. Positive. Always positive.

So on this particular day, Scott greets a reporter she's never met with a hug. She takes her now-9-year-old daughter, Juliánne, to Chick-fil-A to get some lunch — and maybe an ice cream cone to dip her french fries in afterward. They go to joint piano lessons, to prepare for their recital that weekend. Scott, 46, says she will be the only adult to perform. She doesn't much care.

"I guess you have a choice in any situation: You can fight, or flight," she says at one point. "And so in fighting, it’s what can I do now? That situation happened, but what can I do to move forward?"

'A very, very brave woman'

Stefanie Vallery was 5½ years older than Scott, her only sister — the type of person who filled text message conversations with Bible verses and words of encouragement, counseling others even when they might not realize they needed it.

If Vallery came across a verse that she thought might brighten someone’s day, she would grab her phone and let them know. And if you didn’t have the Bible app, she’d make sure you get that daily verse, too.

"We still get phone calls from people who knew her," Scott said, "how they appreciate the Scripture and the Word that she would send out to them and the encouragement that she had for them, even in her own struggle that maybe we weren’t aware about."

Scott doesn't want to go into detail, but she can't help but think back about her sister and notice signs of possible abuse. She can’t help but wonder how long her sister might have suffered before the night of her death.

It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The New Orleans Saints were playing. Vallery's daughter, Natalie Scott Richardson, said she hadn't heard from her mom all day, which was strange. So Richardson, Scott and two other family members, including one child, decided to go over to Vallery's beige, one-story house in southeastern Baton Rouge late that afternoon, to check on her. 

According to an arrest warrant filed by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, Vallery's husband of 14 years, Michael, was at the house when the family members arrived. The couple was separated at the time and in the process of getting a divorce.

A verbal and physical altercation ensued, according to the warrant, and Michael Vallery, 50, left the house. Stefanie Vallery then confided to witnesses that he had raped, strangled and battered her earlier in the day, the warrant alleges.

About three minutes later, according to The Advocate, Michael Vallery forced his way back into the house through a rear bedroom window and went to the living room, where he produced a knife. He moved to stab his wife. Scott moved to protect her. So police say he stabbed Scott, too — in both of her palms, her left thigh, her left knee and her lower left leg.

"My auntie is a very, very brave woman," said Richardson, 33. "I think she did everything within her power to try to help my mom as best as she could in the moment."

According to the arrest warrant, Michael Vallery then left the house, came back shortly thereafter and "stabbed the deceased several additional times before fleeing the residence."

Police responded to the house about 8 p.m., according to dispatch audio. Scott was rushed to the hospital in serious but stable condition, while one of her nieces, also named Danielle Scott, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Stefanie Vallery died at the scene.

Michael Vallery was charged with one count of murder  and two counts of attempted murder, and he has not yet entered a plea. Dedrick A. Moore, who is listed in online court records as his attorney, said through his office that Moore has "not been properly retained on the case" and thus declined to comment. Assistant District Attorney Jermaine Guillory also declined to comment.

Amid the chaos that night, police said, Michael Vallery took off toward an abandoned Rite Aid around the corner and slipped into the darkness.

On the run

Scott’s father, Charles Young, found his daughter in a hospital bed. She had lacerations across her left leg, blood on her feet and nerve damage in her left hand. When he asked her what happened, she burst into tears.

"It was tough to see that. Tough," Young said. "I just thank the Lord she didn’t get killed. … Because she lost a lot of blood. She was out of it."

Scott played in more than 420 international matches over the course of her Hall of Fame indoor volleyball career — a 19-year stretch that also featured a WNBA tryout, a yearlong hiatus following the birth of her daughter and professional stops in Brazil, Japan, Italy and Puerto Rico. The 6-3 middle blocker is one of only seven volleyball players ever — men or women — to make five trips to the Olympics, going from the youngest player on the team during her first trip (24) to the oldest in her last (39).

Scott said she was rarely injured during her volleyball career, apart from a few sore shoulders, a few sprained ankles and a broken finger two days before the 2000 Olympics. But for roughly six weeks after the attack, she was unable to use either of her hands or her left leg, confined to a modified walker that her father outfitted with wheels so the rubber fittings would stop squeaking on the floor.

"I remember that being (a) big thing," she said with a smile.

As if recovering while grieving the death of her sister wasn't enough, Scott also knew that Michael Vallery was still on the run, as police spent more than a month conducting a manhunt.

"She lived in fear," said close friend Aretha Arzu, who flew from New York to be with Scott the day after the attack. "Fear for her life, fear for her daughter’s life that this man was going to come and do something to them." 

Arzu made several trips back to Baton Rouge to help take care of her longtime friend, whom she met when they were in college at Long Beach State, and Young rarely left his daughter's side, protecting her as police continued to search for the accused killer.

Throughout her recovery, Scott said she was comforted and motivated by her daughter. There were times when fear took over, when she wanted to just stay at home and be alone, but what kind of message would that send?

"For me, it was just: OK, my daughter’s depending on me," Scott said. "So how can I make this situation OK for her?"

Relief came 36 days after the attack, on Christmas Eve, when Michael Vallery was found and arrested outside a Baton Rouge apartment complex. Juliánne told her mother it was "a Christmas miracle."

They never suspected that, just four months later, he would be free again.

Faith and forgiveness

As another Tuesday lesson begins, Scott sits down at the piano first, her scarred hands hovering carefully over the keys.

She always wanted to learn how to play the piano, and she briefly attempted to teach herself once before, bringing a keyboard to Brazil with her when she played there professionally several years ago.

It wasn’t until Juliánne threatened to quit her own piano lessons in 2017 that Scott decided to try again. It’s an activity they can do together, she explains — and more recently, it’s helped loosen the stiffness in her palms after the attack. She starts on a song titled "Enchanted Forest" that she’ll play at their upcoming recital.

"It’s a good piece. Very relaxing," piano teacher Josh Medrano says.

"Yeah, sometimes it makes me go to sleep," Juliánne chirps with a grin.

When they sit down for this lesson, more than two weeks have passed since Scott received word that Michael Vallery had been released from jail after posting an incorrect bail amount — the result of an apparent clerical error following his indictment. Richardson, Scott’s niece, was set to be married that weekend, and Scott was going to officiate the ceremony. The fear cascaded back.

"She was kind of scared he might come over there and do something," Young said.

The date of the wedding, April 28, had special meaning for the family: It would have been Stefanie Vallery’s 52nd birthday. Richardson said it was important to her that they spend the day celebrating, rather than mourning her mother. So the ceremony went on as planned, despite a lingering anxiety.

When 19th Judicial District Judge Mike Erwin learned that Vallery had been released, he more than doubled his bail, to $500,000, and issued another warrant for his arrest. Police found him the next day, in a small town 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, and he remains in custody. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance Aug. 7.

Scott said she and Juliánne have prayed for Michael Vallery in the months since the attack, with the 9-year-old at one point asking God to "please help him not to hurt other people because he’s hurting." Scott and her niece said they hope they will have the strength to forgive him.

"I’d like justice to be served," Scott said. "What that looks like? At least not free. Not free to hurt someone else.

"And then ultimately, he’s going to have to meet his maker. And that will be the final justice."

‘Trying to survive’

On Wednesday, Scott will be honored with USA Volleyball’s first-ever Courage Award — recognition of which she is appreciative but sometimes wonders if she is worthy.

She didn’t plan to be brave that night. She said she just did what anyone would do.

"It was something that happened and I was trying to be there for my sister," Scott said, "trying to survive the situation."

Nevertheless, she hopes she can use her experiences to raise awareness about domestic violence, which affects nearly 20 people in the United States every minute, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She says it’s important to realize that not all signs of abuse are physical, and that simply being present for a loved one is sometimes the most powerful way to help.

"As much as we hear about domestic violence, you don’t really think about it until it actually hits home," Richardson added. "You don’t go research it. There’s not enough eyes on it, to say the least. I think that’s the thing that we’ve all been dealing with — just trying to cope with the fact that we missed so much."

Scott knows her own scars will never go away. Her hands are stiff and sometimes swollen. She has only recently started jumping off her left leg during physical therapy sessions. Emotionally, too, that night has stuck with her. When you experience that kind of trauma, it lingers in your nightmares, and in your heart.

But even when Scott thinks back on the past six months, tears welling in her eyes, she still manages to smile. 

"If life was all smooth," Scott said, "you wouldn’t even know what to be grateful for."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.