Hughesville resident Wilson Chavis, 48, has been charged with multiple counts of murder for his role in the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Ronald Steven Banks, of Washington, DC, at a Suitland cemetery on Tuesday, June 6.
At approximately 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, officers from the Prince George's County Police Department were called to the Washington National Cemetery to investigate a reported shooting.
Upon arrival, first responders found Banks, who was taken to an area hospital and later died from his injuries. A second woman was also struck, though police say it was just a graze wound.
According to investigators, Chavis was providing funeral services for a young child who was being buried, and while they were getting underway, the owner got into a confrontation with two people.
Police noted that the two people were affiliated with a second funeral company which Chavis has "a long-standing business dispute.
Several people attending the funeral became upset with Chavis, and when he was again confronted, he pulled out a weapon and fired two shots, striking the two victims.
Chavis then fled the area before he was stopped by a member of the Morningside Police Department who spotted him.
Following his arrest, Chavis was charged with:
- First-degree murder;
- Second-degree murder;
- Attempted first-degree murder;
- Attempted degree murders;
- "Related charges."
He is being held in the custody of the Department of Corrections pending his next court appearance.
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