A funeral company owner has been charged with murder after he allegedly shot two people at a child’s funeral, killing one of the pallbearers, police said.
On Tuesday (June 6), Wilson Chavis, 48, allegedly shot and killed 30-year-old Ronald Steven Banks in Washington, D.C.
Banks was at a service organized by Chavis’ company at Suitland Cemetery in Maryland.
He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to the police, a woman also suffered a minor injury in the shooting.
The woman was treated and has since been released from the hospital, according to Brian Fischer, media relations manager for the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to reporting by NBC Washington, the funeral was for 10-year-old Arianna Davis, who died in a hail of bullets while riding in a vehicle with her family on Mother’s Day.
Davis’ murder remains unsolved.
According to the police department, Chavis allegedly confronted two unidentified individuals associated with another funeral business with which Chavis had a “long-standing business dispute.”
The confrontation happened at 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, just as the burial was about to begin.
According to the statement released on the Police Department’s Facebook page, several mourners became upset with Chavis and “confronted him over his behavior,” adding that Chavis fired two shots.
Chavis allegedly fled the scene before officers from Morningside Police Department apprehended him during a traffic stop.
Chavis is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, and related charges, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department. It’s unclear how much prison time he could face if convicted.
