Family wants charges for witnesses to man's videotaped stabbing death

Ervin's sister said video of the fight – in which Ervin, 39, can be seen wielding a board against Floyd, 30, who was later charged with first-degree murder – should constitute evidence, and those who recorded and shared it should be charged with withholding evidence.

"When you have a loved one die of health issues, that's different," said Tracey Ervin. "When you have one die of a murder, it really hits hard."

Witnesses said Floyd, of Sherrie Circle, and Ervin, of 2004 Abbeydale Lane in Fayetteville, were in a fight outside a home on D Street in Spring Lake Sept. 2 when Floyd pulled knife and stabbed Ervin in the chest.

In the video, which circulated on a messaging app and which Spring Lake police have reviewed, Tracey Ervin says people can be heard encouraging Floyd to attack and laughing as Ervin is bleeding. She says no one helped her brother or tried to stop the fight.

Ervin's sister said he managed to escape into the house, where someone called 911, but that he later died of his wounds.

Troy McDuffie, Spring Lake chief of police, said he would hope that witnesses to a crime would do what he called "the ethical thing" – offer assistance and report a crime if they see someone in danger, but they are under no legal obligation to do so.

District Attorney Billy West said there is no way to charge a person who videotapes a crime unless they are part of it. He, too, hopes witnesses at the scene of a crime would report it, and, more importantly, help victims.

Floyd has been in custody since his arrest, held on $500,000 bond.