DEPUTY'S DEATH ENDS LIFE ETCHED WITH 'THAT SMILE'

At age 33, George Selby seemed totally in his element.

He was happy working as a narcotics deputy, was married and had two little
girls he hoped to keep from dating until they turned 25.

Selby's death Wednesday evening - he was shot through the door as deputies
tried to serve a warrant - left family, schoolmates and officers reeling
Thursday.

It also left two small-time criminals in jail with pending first-degree
murder charges, according to court records. Reginald Rome, 45, and Calvin
Joe Williams, 42, of Memphis, were in the Shelby County Jail Thursday after
receiving treatment for minor injuries.

Both men have criminal records, though neither appears to have any major
drug arrests.

Williams has charges such as burglary and public intoxication that go back
at least to 1991; Rome's rap sheet starts with a disorderly conduct charge
from 1977 and includes a couple more recent drug-selling charges. Rome was
shot in the left hand, sheriff's officials said. Both were bitten by a
police dog unleashed in their Frayser home.

The search warrant gave deputies permission to look in the house at 2433
Chattering Lane for drugs and cash, Chief Deputy Bill Oldham said.

But before the dozen officers could get inside someone inside started shooting.

Selby, standing on the porch - poised to be the first man in - was hit
under the arm in the space not covered by his bulletproof vest.

Although he was coherent and stable when an ambulance got him to the
Regional Medical Center at Memphis, the bullet from the 357 Magnum had done
too much damage, Sheriff Mark Luttrell said.

Remembering him Thursday, Selby's fellow officers and Skyview Academy
classmates all pointed to his mischievous, 'I-just-got-away-with-something'
grin.

"He always had that smile, like 'You didn't catch me,' " said Chief
Inspector David Wing, who was Selby's boss for two years on the narcotics
squad.

But Wing paid Selby the highest compliment one cop ever gives another: "He
was just the kind of guy you'd want to go through the door with."

Insp. Mike McEachran, who runs the department's special operations, years
ago had Selby on the burglary, robbery and auto theft unit. Even for a
young detective, McEachran said, Selby was aggressive and good at
developing sources that helped solve crimes.

Away from work, Selby had recently gotten back in touch with dozens of old
friends from the Skyview Academy in Frayser, where he graduated in 1988.

Some of those school friends had stayed in touch and were Selby's closest
pals on the force: Leonard Rovery, Billy Speight and George Stauffer.

The school closed, but graduates recently started a Web site that served to
pull former students together.

Selby's sense of humor was evident as he posted his interests: "My two
girls, keeping boys away from my two girls, making sure my two girls don't
date until they are 25, making sure my two girls become nuns."

Activity on the Web site hit its high mark Thursday as graduates from
around the country posted tributes and shared memories about Selby.

Selby is related to Owen Selby, a motorcycle officer with the Memphis
Police Department known as the dean of ticket-writers.

As a young deputy, Selby unwittingly found his own notoriety. He was one of
a handful of deputies who testified they gave $3,500 to a politically
connected grocer later convicted for selling deputy jobs.

The entry-level officers testified they were told the contributions were
the way to get hired. And they wanted desperately to be lawmen, fellow
officers said.

"It's hard. We've got a lot of guys who are hurtin' right now," Wing said.
"But we'll mourn and then we'll be glad to have known a guy like this."