The Wilmington Police Department (WPD) arrested Davy Spencer, 47, on April 11 and charged him with second-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in connection with the April 5 stabbing death of Lance Cpl. Daniel Montano, 21, a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
HOMICIDE SUSPECT IN CUSTODY FOLLOWING WPD INVESTIGATION
After an extensive investigation by the WPD Criminal Investigation Division, 47-year-old Davy Spencer of Wilmington is in custody and is facing multiple charges. pic.twitter.com/yam8hAl8SD
— Wilmington, N.C. Police (@WilmingtonPD) April 11, 2026
Court records show Spencer is being held without bond. Arrest warrants allege he used a folding pocket knife to attack Montano and two other men during a multi-party brawl in the 100 block of North Front Street at approximately 2 a.m. Montano died from his injuries the following day.
Montano was an inventory management specialist with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines Regiment at Camp Lejeune, roughly 70 miles from downtown Wilmington, a stretch of bars and nightlife that draws frequent off-duty traffic from the East Coast’s largest Marine Corps base. He was from San Bernardino, California.
A second male stabbing victim fled the scene, but WPD officers located him and applied a tourniquet that kept him alive.
A 42-second video circulating on social media appears to show officers deploying pepper spray before an officer encountered Montano bent over and bleeding on the sidewalk.
🇺🇸📍Arrestan a Davy Spencer tras la muerte del marine Daniel Montano.
El cabo lancero de 21 años fue apuñalado fatalmente; el sospechoso ya ha sido acusado de asesinato en segundo grado por las autoridades.🚔#ÙltimaHora #EEUU pic.twitter.com/1BjXbJWXQ1— Espacio Libre Puebla (@espaciolibrepue) April 12, 2026
WPD Chief Ryan Zuidema addressed the footage directly at a Wednesday media briefing.
“They have no idea who is who,” Zuidema said. “They don’t know who’s a suspect, who’s a victim.”
Zuidema said the situation was fluid and dangerous, with officers trying to determine whether suspects were still present and whether more victims existed.
One officer had been exposed to pepper spray, he said, and another requested gloves before rendering aid per department protocol. Emergency medical services were also called to the scene.
That response drew scrutiny just 34 days after WPD officers fatally shot Edilberto Espinoza-Sierra, 21, in a downtown parking garage on March 8, an incident still under State Bureau of Investigation review.
Update on the video from this weekend showing multiple people being stabbed in Wilmington, NC.
One of the victims was a US Marine, Daniel Montano (21), and he died as a result of his wounds.
The man who has been arrested is Davy Spencer (47), who has a LENGTHY criminal record… pic.twitter.com/p9rnvb347w
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) April 11, 2026
In a separate, unrelated stabbing the same morning, WPD arrested Jazya Muldrow-Green, 20, and charged her with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury after a 22-year-old woman was stabbed nearby on North Front Street.
Montano’s family wrote in a GoFundMe statement that he was “not only dedicated to his country, but also deeply loved by his family.” The page is raising funds for funeral expenses and memorial costs.
