Funeral Home Owner Sentenced to 60 Years for Killing Pallbearer at Child’s Burial
A Maryland funeral home owner has been sentenced to prison for fatally shooting a pallbearer during the burial of a 10-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet in Washington, D.C.
Wilson Wesley Chavis, 50, the owner of Compassion and Serenity Funeral Home, was convicted in February for the June 6, 2023 killing of 30-year-old Ronald Steven Banks. Banks, a family friend of the young victim, Arianna Miracle Davis, was helping carry her casket at the time of the incident. On Friday, a judge sentenced Chavis to 60 years in prison, with 25 years to be served and the remainder suspended.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy called the sentencing “a clear and unequivocal message that we will not tolerate this kind of violence in our community.”
The shooting occurred just before the burial began. According to police and court records, Chavis confronted two individuals associated with a rival funeral home—part of an ongoing business dispute. Witnesses say Chavis shouted profanities at a pastor and others at the graveside. When Chavis shoved the pastor, several attendees intervened, including Banks. Chavis then pulled out a handgun and shot Banks, who later died at a hospital. Another mourner was grazed by a bullet.
Arianna’s mother, Antionette Belk, expressed her heartbreak in an interview with NBC Washington, saying, "I'm so traumatized that this happened at my daughter's burial site. I didn't even get to lay her down, even to put her in the ground, and another incident happened," she said. "This is so traumatizing to me, my children, my whole family. It's trauma after trauma."
Belk, a teacher and mother of four, said Chavis also shouted, “I own this body!” and spit on the pastor before fleeing the scene. He was stopped shortly afterward by a Morningside Police officer. Chavis later claimed he acted in self-defense.
At the time of the shooting, Chavis had an active temporary peace order against him from the president of the rival funeral home due to alleged threats.
He was convicted of second-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and reckless endangerment.
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