Daily Update - April 13, 2026

Habitual Criminal Strikes Again

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This Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Monday, April 13, 2026, looks at the Easter Sunday stabbing death of Marine Corps Lance Corporal Daniel Montano and the man now charged in his killing, Davy Spencer. While Spencer remains legally innocent until proven guilty, court records show a 30‑year pattern of crime ranging from drug trafficking and possession to resisting arrest and assault on a female, capped by a habitual felon conviction that was supposed to keep him behind bars for nearly a decade.

Instead, Spencer was released after serving only a fraction of that sentence, and now stands accused of second‑degree murder and related assault charges in Montano’s death. This update asks a blunt question: what do we do with habitual felons who show no desire to change or contribute to society, and how many chances should they get before the system finally protects the public first?

For thirty years, the system kept releasing the same man. Now a Marine is gone after a 2 a.m. stabbing downtown.

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Monday April 13, 2026.

Davy Spencer has been arrested and charged in the stabbing of Marine Corps Lance Corporal Daniel Montano. The incident took place in downtown Wilmington around 2am on Easter Sunday. Mr. Spencer is facing several charges, including Second Degree Murder and two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with the intent to Kill.

Mr. Spencer of course is innocent of these charges until proven guilty.

However, the accused in this case is far from innocent in terms of his overall run ins with the law. Court records indicate that Mr. Spencer has a 30 year relationship with law enforcement, going in and of prison for everything from drug trafficking to possession to resisting arrest to assault on a female. His last conviction was as a habitual felon for distributing heroin and cocaine – which is supposed to increase jail time – and was sentenced to 117 months in jail – around 10 years. He was released after only serving a nickle and a half.

Clearly, something is not working.

Americans tend to go out their way to give people second, third and more chances to change when they have done something wrong. It is part of our ethos that our past does not necessarily have to determine our present. Yet that forgiveness – and the perception that we can all be better people – all rest on an understanding that we WANT to be better – that we want to be productive members of society.

Mr. Spencer’s three decades of criminal activity suggest that he has no intention of changing – and no intention of contributing to our society in any meaningful way. We should have realized that long ago – and imposed sentences that reflect that defiant criminal attitude. Because he has been charged with second-degree murder and not first degree homicide, he has escaped any possibility of a death sentence. He can – however – spend the rest of his life in prison.

And he should.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.