Funeral Director Opens Fire at 10-Year-Old’s Burial—Now He’s Going to Prison

In one of the most shocking and disturbing cases to hit Maryland in recent memory, a funeral director who pulled a gun at a child’s gravesite and shot a pallbearer has been sentenced to decades behind bars.

Wilson Chavis, 50, was handed a 60-year prison sentence—though a judge suspended all but 25 years—after he gunned down 30-year-old Ronald Banks in broad daylight during the burial of a 10-year-old girl, Arianna Davis, at Washington National Cemetery in Suitland.

The unthinkable tragedy unfolded on June 6, 2023, just as mourners were gathering to say goodbye to the young girl, who herself had been killed by a stray bullet on Mother’s Day in Washington, D.C. Her grieving family had come together to lay her to rest. Instead, they witnessed another senseless act of gun violence.

“This was an unthinkable tragedy — one that has caused immeasurable pain to multiple families,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said in a statement after Chavis’ sentencing on July 11. “What these families and this community had to experience is something that should never happen.”

A Fight Over Business Turns Deadly

According to investigators, Chavis confronted Banks and another woman at the cemetery just moments before the burial was to begin. Both individuals worked with a rival funeral home that Chavis had been feuding with for years.

Tempers boiled over. Words turned to gunfire.

Chavis pulled a handgun and fired two shots. One bullet struck Banks in the upper body. The second grazed the woman, whose identity has not been released. Banks was rushed to the hospital but later died from his injuries.

Police called the shooting the result of a “long-standing business dispute” — a chilling motive given the sacred setting where it occurred.

A Family’s Worst Nightmare Gets Worse

Arianna Davis’ mother, Antionette Belk, was already reeling from the unimaginable loss of her daughter. The burial was supposed to be a final, peaceful goodbye.

Instead, it turned into chaos.

“I’m so traumatized that this happened at my daughter’s burial site,” Belk told NBC4 Washington last year. “I didn’t even get to lay her down… and another incident happened.”

Belk never got the chance to place her daughter in the ground. The scene had to be cleared by law enforcement first.

Justice Delivered, But Scars Remain

Chavis was convicted on February 14 of second-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and reckless endangerment.

His 25-year prison term is seen as a measure of justice, but the emotional damage to those who witnessed the horror—especially the Davis family—is unlikely to fade.

“Our hearts remain with the families that have suffered because of this tragic incident,” said State’s Attorney Jackson. “And we remain committed to ensuring that those who commit such violent acts are held fully accountable.”

As for the cemetery that was supposed to serve as a place of peace, it now holds the memories of not one but two tragic deaths—one of a child taken too soon, and another of a man killed while trying to help her rest in peace.