Repeat offender charged in fatal Easter stabbing of Marine in Wilmington

Davy Spencer was charged with second-degree murder after police say he stabbed Lance Cpl. Daniel Montano to death during a chaotic Easter morning fight in downtown Wilmington. The 47-year-old was also charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill after the April 5 stabbing that left Montano dead and two other people injured.

Police said the violence erupted around 2 a.m. in the 100 block of North Front Street, shortly after last call, when officers responded to reports of multiple fights. Two separate stabbing incidents happened only minutes apart and about a block apart, and three people were hurt across the two scenes. Montano was stabbed in the neck, taken to the hospital, and later died.

The 2nd Marine Division confirmed Montano was a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines Regiment. His family set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral and memorial costs, saying he was only 21 and had suddenly died far from home. Another local report identified him as a 2023 graduate of Sultana High School in Hesperia, California.

Spencer was arrested on April 11, six days after the killing. Detectives reviewed video and interviewed multiple witnesses before making the arrest, and the Wilmington Police Department had earlier circulated photos of a person of interest while asking for cellphone video, dash-cam footage, surveillance video and witness accounts from the area between midnight and 3 a.m. on April 5.

His arrest has put renewed attention on his criminal history. Spencer had decades of felony convictions, including violent offenses, and was released from prison in early 2021 after serving more than five years for felony drug-related offenses. The case has sharpened the question that now hangs over the fatal stabbing: how was a man with that record still free when Montano was killed on a downtown sidewalk?

The killing also drew scrutiny because video circulating online showed the wounded Marine on the sidewalk while officers used pepper spray nearby. Police Chief Ryan Zuidema defended the officers’ response and said the department was handling the scene properly. He also said Wilmington was dealing with an uptick in homicides and that staffing and resource allocation would be revisited. In a nightlife district that was busy in the hours after midnight, the case has become one more grim reminder of how fast a street fight can turn fatal.