Daughter of man shot by officer while holding a knife in Manteo sues for $5M

MANTEO, N.C. (WAVY) — Dare County deputies and the family of Sylvester Demetrius Selby have different accounts as to what happened the night he was shot and killed by an officer in Manteo on Oct. 2.

The discrepancies in the incident come after the family issued a lawsuit against the sheriff and officer involved. The daughter, Legacy Spencer, is suing Sheriff Doug Doughtie and Deputy Edward Glaser III, the lawsuit stating Selby was shot and killed after trying to receive medical assistance for a stab wound to the heart.

The family is seeking $4 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages as well as attorney fees and other relief.

The lawsuit states that Selby walked out of the house with a kitchen knife in one hand, in a “non-threatening manner,” and an apple in the other, and complied with officers.

In previous WAVY coverage, deputies said that Selby came at them with a knife, and neither deputies nor family members originally mentioned a stabbing wound as described in the lawsuit. Deputies also said they were responding to a trespassing call, and not a medical assistance call.

In the lawsuit, it states that the other deputy present, DuWayne Gibbs, gave Selby a verbal command to put the knife down, to which Selby responded, “OK.”

“As he walked down the stairs, during that last step he stumbled over a bike as deputy Glaser shot him and then he shot him twice on the ground,” said Harry Daniels, attorney for the Selby family.

The lawsuit doesn’t mention the knife leaving Selby’s hands until after he slowly walked down the steps, stumbled on the last step and tripped on a bicycle, where he was then shot by Glaser and landed on his back. The knife and apple was said to have been dislodged at that point.

Selby tried to reposition himself, the lawsuit states, and continued despite Glaser ordering him multiple times to stop moving. After his hands and knees were on the ground, he was shot two more times, according to the lawsuit.

“The video is clear that Mr. Selby was killed and shot unlawfully as he surrendered after being stabbed in the heart, the chest,” Daniels told 10 On Your Side, “This is as egregious as it comes. It was completely unjust, uncaused shooting. The video speaks for itself.”

Daniels has not viewed the body camera video himself, but co-counsel Chantel Cherry-Lassiter has.

“The main thing that I was looking at was the fact that Mr. Selby did not seem to be a threat to anyone at the time of the interaction,” Cherry-Lassiter said, “… and that he had a man standing there in medical distress and he was visibly bleeding from his shirt and blood was dripping down his pants, and you could see that and I was thinking this gentleman needs some medical assistance and that is not what happened.”

The lawsuit states that at the time he was shot, Selby posed no threat to anyone. Selby’s Fourth Amendment right was violated by the use of “excessive force,” according to the lawsuit.

“At the time Mr. Selby was shot and killed by Deputy Glaser,” the lawsuit states, “he posed no threat to law enforcement, others or himself.”