Maryland funeral company owner sentenced to 35 years for shooting pallbearer during child's service

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Maryland funeral company owner sentenced to 35 years for shooting pallbearer during child’s service

Ciara Wells | [e-mail]
July 11, 2025, 7:14 PM


Washington National Cemetery where the fatal shooting of a pallbearer took place during the funeral of 10-year-old Ariana Davis on June 6, 2023.(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

The owner of a Prince George’s County, Maryland, funeral company has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for fatally shooting a pallbearer during a child’s burial service in 2023. … On Friday, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson announced Wilson Chavis’ sentencing in the death of 30-year-old Ronald Banks.

Banks was a pallbearer at a funeral service at Washington National Cemetery in Suitland for 10-year-old Ariana Davis, who died after being struck by a stray bullet inside a car on Mother’s Day in 2023. … Chavis, 50, got into a confrontation with two people who worked for another funeral service company over a “long-standing business dispute” he’d apparently had, according to police.

Police said several funeral attendees became upset with Chavis and confronted him over his behavior. … While backing up, Chavis tripped over the concrete vault lid near the grave site and fell to the ground, police said. He pulled out his gun and shot Banks and a woman before fleeing the scene in a vehicle. He was later detained.

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Ciara Wells
Ciara Wells is the Evening Digital Editor at WTOP. She is a graduate of American University where she studied journalism and Spanish. Before joining WTOP, she was the opinion team editor at a student publication and a content specialist at an HBCU in Detroit.
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