A funeral service company owner has been arrested and charged with murder after shooting at people attending the funeral service of a 10-year-old girl who was brutally killed.
Wilson Chavis, 48, has been accused of shooting two people during the ceremony that took place at the Washington National Cemetery in Prince George’s County, Maryland, police say.
Of the two people who were shot, one was killed. Ronald Steven Banks, 30, a Washington, D.C. native, succumbed to a gunshot wound, while the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say the shooting took place while family and friends mourned the loss of Arianna Davis, 10, who was shot on Mother’s Day in Washington. At the service, Chavis confronted the two victims when a dispute ensued.
“Officers said the confrontation involved people affiliated with a second funeral service company with which Chavis has a long-standing business dispute,” according to a CBS Baltimore report. “Several funeral attendees became upset with Chavis and confronted him, police said.”
Chavis then pulled out a firearm and began shooting. The bullets struck both the deceased and a woman, whose identity has not been revealed.
The suspect fled the scene after the shooting but officers found him moments later, arrested him and took him into custody.
Chavis is charged with first and second-degree murder, attempted first and second-degree murder and related charges.
This story is developing.
Gun violence in the nation’s capital and surrounding counties have “increased significantly in the District over the last five years. Despite a number of safety initiatives, prevention programs, and restrictive gun laws, D.C. is struggling to get a handle on gun violence,” according to data provided by Axios.
The report adds that in “2017, there were 1,573 reported violent crimes in D.C. involving a gun. Last year, that number increased to 2,203, a 40% jump,” and Maryland Police Department “seized 3,152 guns last year; that’s over 800 more than in 2021.”
