SUSPECT CHARGED IN SELBY'S KILLING

Deputy's Funeral Today; Second Suspect Released

Prosecutors filed a charge of first-degree murder Friday night against
Reginald Rome, one of two men inside a Frayser home Wednesday when a Shelby
County Sheriff's deputy was fatally shot on the front porch. A second man
inside the house when the shooting occurred, Calvin Joe Williams, was
released Friday evening without being charged.

Rome, 45, was charged as the Sheriff's Department was making preparations
for today's funeral for Deputy George Selby.

The funeral for Selby, 33, a deputy since 1994, will begin at 10 a.m. today
at Germantown Baptist Church with a procession along Poplar Avenue from the
church to Memorial Park Cemetery.

The funeral and procession are expected to draw a large delegation of law
enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency workers from across
the Mid-South.

Meanwhile, police records show Rome called police to the house the day
before the shootout to report a burglary.

Rome, who owned the house at 2433 Chattering Lane, is charged with
first-degree murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.

He could face the death penalty on the murder charge.

Rome has a criminal record that includes several recent charges of drug
dealing.

The charges filed Friday allege that it was Rome who fired the shot from
the .357-caliber Magnum Colt King Cobra that killed Selby, a married father
of two daughters. The gun was found in the house, said Sheriff's Department
spokesman Steve Shular.

Although Williams, 42, was in the house, the investigation leading to the
charges concluded he had nothing to do with Rome's alleged decision to
shoot at the officers.

"Deputies say (Williams) was not involved in Deputy Selby's death . . ."
read a written statement from the Sheriff's Department announcing the
charges against Rome.

Selby and 11 other deputies with the Shelby County Narcotics Unit were
serving a search warrant at the single-story brick house at 6 p.m.
Wednesday to look for illegal drugs.

Selby was wearing a protective vest, but he was crouched down in a stance
with his arm up, balancing his weapon in both hands, said Shular. The
bullet was one of three fired through the closed door after the deputies
announced their presence, Shular said. It hit Selby underneath his arm, at
the point where the chest meets the right arm, outside the protection of
the vest.

"He was wearing an assault vest that was on the outside of his shirt, one
that provided the maximum protection possible," Shular said.

As other deputies returned fire, they forced open the front door and sent
in a drug sniffing attack dog. The dog cornered and bit Rome and Williams.
Rome was also treated for a gunshot wound to his left hand.

Selby died two hours later while undergoing surgery at the Regional Medical
Center at Memphis.

The investigation of the deputy's shooting overshadowed the original
purpose of the search warrant. It was to look for cocaine and marijuana.
There was no word Friday on whether drugs were found, Shular said.

Meanwhile, police records show the shootout was the second time law
enforcement officers had been to the house in two days.

A police incident report shows Rome called Memphis police to the house
Tuesday morning to report a burglary.

Rome, according to the report, told police that he had taken "Calvin to a
temp agency" 3d hours earlier and when he returned around 8 a.m. he found
that someone had kicked in the front door and taken two television sets
from a bedroom.

The report does not give a last name for "Calvin."