MANTEO — The family of Sylvester Demetrius Selby filed a $5 million-plus federal lawsuit over his death Oct. 2, when a Dare County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot him.
The lawsuit requests a trial by jury, and names Deputy Edward Glaser III and Sheriff Doug Doughtie as defendants.
Doughtie declined to comment Saturday.
A medical 911 call John Sims placed around 11:30 p.m. Oct. 2 ended with Selby, 44, dead outside the family home in the 1300 block of Burnside Road in Manteo after Glaser shot Selby three times, according to the lawsuit.
Selby, the father of four daughters — three of whom are surviving — had been stabbed in the chest before the call for help. Nonetheless, he complied with the officers and had raised his hands above his head, the suit says.
“Deputies could see the blood dripping from Selby’s wound and the fact that he was holding a kitchen knife in one hand, in a nonthreatening manner, and an apple in the other as he was exiting the home,” according to a Dec. 8 press release announcing the Dec. 7 lawsuit filing.
Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, whose law offices are based in Atlanta, is representing the family, according to the press release.
Glaser and the Dare County Sheriff’s Office knew Selby was not a threat at the time Glaser shot him, the lawsuit alleges.
Glaser and Deputy DuWayne Gibbs were both dispatched to the scene, according to the suit. Gibbs was standing closer to Selby — about 15 feet from him, while Glaser was about 25 away — but Gibbs “did not unholster his service weapon throughout the entire encounter,” the lawsuit states.
Glaser fired once as Selby stumbled down his steps, then twice more when Selby was on the ground, the suit says.
“He was 25 feet away, stumbling in the opposite direction and bleeding out from a chest wound the first time Glaser shot him, and he was unarmed, defenseless and on his hands and knees the second and third time he fired,” Daniels said in the press release.
The suit’s description differs from the Dare Sheriff’s Office’s characterization of the encounter. According to an Oct. 3 Sheriff’s Office press release, two deputies were responding to a “trespassing in progress” call when an individual “came at them with a knife.”
A deputy fired their weapon and struck the individual, who died on scene, the Sheriff’s Office release said.
In the redacted 911 call transcript the Sheriff’s Office released Oct. 16, the caller asked for an ambulance and confirmed three times that an ambulance was needed before asking for both ambulance and police.
The Sheriff’s Office has still not publicly released the names of either of the responding deputies the night of Selby’s death or other details of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.
The Virginian-Pilot on Oct. 17 identified Glaser as the deputy who fired his weapon.
The lawsuit alleges two claims for relief against both Glaser and Doughtie: assault and battery, and intentional wrongful death. The suit alleges two additional claims against only Glaser: unlawful force in violation of the Fourth Amendment and excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Legacy Spencer, Selby’s daughter and the administrator of his estate, is named as the plaintiff.
