Latest news with #Chavis
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Miami Herald
Funeral director killed pallbearer at child's burial, MD cops say. He's sentenced
A Maryland funeral director fatally shot a pallbearer at a 10-year-old girl's burial when an argument unfolded during the service, authorities said. Now, Wilson Chavis, 50, has been sentenced to 60 years in prison, 'suspending all but 25 years,' in the killing of 30-year-old Ronald Banks, according to a July 11 news release from the Prince George's County Office of the State's Attorney. Information on Chavis' legal representation was not immediately available. 'This was an unthinkable tragedy — one that has caused immeasurable pain to multiple families,' State's Attorney Tara Jackson said in a statement. 'What these families and this community had to experience is something that should never happen.' Banks was shot by Chavis while working as a pallbearer for Arianna Davis at the Washington National Cemetery in Suitland on June 6, 2023, according to officials. The shooting was related to a 'long-standing business dispute' and sent Banks to a hospital, where he died of his injuries shortly afterward, Prince George's County Police Department said at the time, McClatchy News previously reported. As the girl's funeral was about to begin, Chavis confronted Banks and another woman, according to police, who said the individuals were both affiliated with a funeral service company Chavis had a history of disputing with. During the confrontation, Chavis fired two shots, police said. One hit Banks, while the other shot grazed the woman, who was not identified. The girl, Arianna, was killed nearly a month earlier when a stray bullet struck her May 14, on Mother's Day, in Washington, D.C., according to 7News 'I'm so traumatized that this happened at my daughter's burial site,' Antionette Belk, the girl's mother, told NBC4 Washington in June 2023. 'I didn't even get to lay her down, even to put her in the ground, and another incident happened.' Chavis' sentencing was held July 11, after he was convicted of second-degree murder, the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and reckless endangerment on Feb. 14, according to the state's attorney's office. 'Our hearts remain with the families that have suffered because of this tragic incident, and we remain committed to ensuring that those who commit such violent acts are held fully accountable,' Jackson said.
New York Post
25-06-2025
- General
- New York Post
Boa constrictor found hiding under North Carolina McDonald's drive-thru window
A trip to a McDonald's ended in a large exotic snake being removed from the drive-thru over the weekend in North Carolina. Talena Chavis, also known as the NC Snake Catcher, was called out to a local McDonald's in Cary on Saturday afternoon after a non-native snake was found in the drive-thru. Chavis said the man and woman who called her said they had put the snake into a box after another drive-thru customer had pulled the snake out from under the drive-thru's delivery window and put it elsewhere near the McDonald's. 3 A snake catcher was called to a McDonald's when a boa constrictor was discovered in the drive-thru. Talena Chavis/NC Snake Catcher / FOX Weather The calling couple told Chavis they thought the snake was a python. Chavis and her husband said they'd take care of it and jumped in the car. 'It's so good that her and her husband intervened,' Chavis said. 'Because I have zero doubt that they were the reason there was a positive outcome for that snake.' When Chavis arrived at the McDonald's, she opened the cardboard box the snake was in and realized it wasn't a python, but a boa constrictor. It was her first call in nine years of reptile-catching for a boa constrictor. 'We didn't expect to get something quite as exotic as we did,' Chavis said. 'Nor as big.' 3 Telena Chavis rescued the snake after a couple at the restaurant caught it and put it in a box. Talena Chavis/NC Snake Catcher / FOX Weather It was Chavis' first time being called to a McDonald's for snake removal. She said she gets calls for non-native snake species roughly once every three months. Chavis estimated that the snake was just under 4 feet long and is believed to be a female. The snake was very docile and in good condition, and likely hadn't been in the wild for very long. She said the boa was most likely dumped or lost by someone who was no longer in the area. Chavis said the couple who reported the snake tried calling local animal control, who told them they only dealt with domestic animals. 3 The snake's owner did not come forward, so it will be adopted. Talena Chavis/NC Snake Catcher / FOX Weather Finally, a Google search led them to Chavis and her business. 'They were the guardian angels that saved that snake,' Chavis said of the couple. 'Things would not have gone well for it one way or the other.' After a few days of lost-and-found calls and hoping to find the boa's owner, no one came forward. Chavis said one of her NC Snake Catcher employees took the snake home and is adopting her, so long as the original owner doesn't come forward with proof of ownership.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Record beef prices raise Memorial Day cookout costs
By Tom Polansek, Heather Schlitz CHICAGO (Reuters) -Beef prices set records last month at U.S. grocery stores, and economists expect they will climb further as demand increases during the summer grilling season that traditionally begins with cookouts on Memorial Day on Monday. Higher prices hit consumers who are increasingly nervous about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's trade policy and after Washington halted cattle imports from Mexico over a pest called New World screwworm, which could hike up beef prices further by tightening the cattle supply. One consumer feeling the pinch is DeAndrea Chavis, an artificial intelligence analyst in Raleigh, North Carolina, who buys ground beef nearly every week to prep tacos and other dishes for lunch but lately is making smaller portions because of rising prices. Chavis said she has seen lean ground beef prices climb above $9 per pound from $6 to $8 in recent months. She is planning to keep hamburgers on the menu for a cookout next week but may have more hot dogs in the mix to control costs. "Ground beef is supposed to be a cheaper option," said Chavis, 28. "Now that is even starting to add up." Ground chuck prices in April reached a record $6 per pound, up 14% from a year ago, after farmers slashed their cattle herds to a 74-year low due to a years-long drought that reduced grazing lands. However, demand for beef is expected to reach a 39-year high as consumers stomach higher prices, Rabobank senior analyst Lance Zimmerman said. A Memorial Day cookout for 10 people eating a mix of foods, including one cheeseburger and chicken sandwich apiece, will cost an estimated $103, up 4.2% from last year, according to Rabobank. Hamburger meat prices jumped 6.4%, the bank said. Some consumers are buying cheaper cuts of beef, such as a top sirloin, to save money without switching to lower-cost chicken or pork, said Ian Anderson, market researcher for commodity data firm Expana. "Folks are still looking to get that juicy steak, and they don't want to pay ribeye prices sometimes," he said. 'IN LOVE' WITH HAMBURGERS The U.S. has increasingly relied on beef imports over the past 30 years to meet demand for ground beef. Imports of Brazilian boneless beef trimmings used for hamburgers were a record 6,888 metric tons in the week ended on May 10, signaling strong demand, said Bob Brown, an independent livestock market analyst. "We are so in love with hamburgers," he said. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture indefinitely blocked imports of Mexican cattle this month due to screwworm in Mexico. U.S. feedlots fatten Mexican cattle for roughly six to eight months before sending them to slaughter, meaning the ban would hit beef supplies after the peak of summertime demand, economists said. The USDA also closed the border for Mexican cattle imports from late November through February, which could tighten supplies this summer, they added. "Slaughter has declined dramatically recently," David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University, said. "If we have less beef produced, that's part of the recipe for higher prices." At some specialty butcher shops, customers who are long accustomed to paying higher prices for fresh local meat haven't pulled back on their spending, shop owners said. "I don't think people are shying away from meat," Bill Begale, owner of Chicago butcher shop Paulina Market, said, noting that there are no shortages of customers for their fresh meat, homemade sausages and expansive deli items. Chavis, in the meantime, said she has started shopping at Lidl and Aldi stores, instead of Food Lion and Walmart, as she hunts for cheaper ground beef. Alas, she said, "it's a problem all over."
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Record beef prices raise Memorial Day cookout costs
By Tom Polansek, Heather Schlitz CHICAGO (Reuters) -Beef prices set records last month at U.S. grocery stores, and economists expect they will climb further as demand increases during the summer grilling season that traditionally begins with cookouts on Memorial Day on Monday. Higher prices hit consumers who are increasingly nervous about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's trade policy and after Washington halted cattle imports from Mexico over a pest called New World screwworm, which could hike up beef prices further by tightening the cattle supply. One consumer feeling the pinch is DeAndrea Chavis, an artificial intelligence analyst in Raleigh, North Carolina, who buys ground beef nearly every week to prep tacos and other dishes for lunch but lately is making smaller portions because of rising prices. Chavis said she has seen lean ground beef prices climb above $9 per pound from $6 to $8 in recent months. She is planning to keep hamburgers on the menu for a cookout next week but may have more hot dogs in the mix to control costs. "Ground beef is supposed to be a cheaper option," said Chavis, 28. "Now that is even starting to add up." Ground chuck prices in April reached a record $6 per pound, up 14% from a year ago, after farmers slashed their cattle herds to a 74-year low due to a years-long drought that reduced grazing lands. However, demand for beef is expected to reach a 39-year high as consumers stomach higher prices, Rabobank senior analyst Lance Zimmerman said. A Memorial Day cookout for 10 people eating a mix of foods, including one cheeseburger and chicken sandwich apiece, will cost an estimated $103, up 4.2% from last year, according to Rabobank. Hamburger meat prices jumped 6.4%, the bank said. Some consumers are buying cheaper cuts of beef, such as a top sirloin, to save money without switching to lower-cost chicken or pork, said Ian Anderson, market researcher for commodity data firm Expana. "Folks are still looking to get that juicy steak, and they don't want to pay ribeye prices sometimes," he said. 'IN LOVE' WITH HAMBURGERS The U.S. has increasingly relied on beef imports over the past 30 years to meet demand for ground beef. Imports of Brazilian boneless beef trimmings used for hamburgers were a record 6,888 metric tons in the week ended on May 10, signaling strong demand, said Bob Brown, an independent livestock market analyst. "We are so in love with hamburgers," he said. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture indefinitely blocked imports of Mexican cattle this month due to screwworm in Mexico. U.S. feedlots fatten Mexican cattle for roughly six to eight months before sending them to slaughter, meaning the ban would hit beef supplies after the peak of summertime demand, economists said. The USDA also closed the border for Mexican cattle imports from late November through February, which could tighten supplies this summer, they added. "Slaughter has declined dramatically recently," David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University, said. "If we have less beef produced, that's part of the recipe for higher prices." At some specialty butcher shops, customers who are long accustomed to paying higher prices for fresh local meat haven't pulled back on their spending, shop owners said. "I don't think people are shying away from meat," Bill Begale, owner of Chicago butcher shop Paulina Market, said, noting that there are no shortages of customers for their fresh meat, homemade sausages and expansive deli items. Chavis, in the meantime, said she has started shopping at Lidl and Aldi stores, instead of Food Lion and Walmart, as she hunts for cheaper ground beef. Alas, she said, "it's a problem all over." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Teen hurt in Myrtle Beach officer-involved shooting says she was wounded by officer's bullet
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — One of the victims in last month's deadly Ocean Boulevard officer-involved shooting in Myrtle Beach said Wednesday she was wounded by a bullet fired from an officer's gun. Fifteen-year-old Serenity Chavis was among the 11 people hurt in the April 26 incident in which Jerrius Davis, 18, of Bennettsville, was killed after authorities said he opened fire in a crowd of people gathered on the boulevard. 'When the police shot me, I didn't feel the bullet,' Chavis said at a news conference attended by her mother and a nationally known civil rights activist. 'My leg just gave out, just like I couldn't run no more, so I'm trying to drag my leg and go, and I just couldn't do it no more. I just gave out, and I laid back, and when I laid back, I started screaming for help, and two officers came.' Deadly officer-involved shooting at least 25th instance of gun violence on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach since 2020 Chavis described the moments after calling for help. 'The one that shot me stood in front of me and told me that he was sorry. He just kept saying that he was sorry,' Chavis said. 'And I just kept saying, 'Can y'all please help me?' And I asked [If I was going to] die and he said 'No, [you're not going to] die. They were [going to] put me in handcuffs until I told them I'm an innocent bystander. That's what happened.' Chavis' mom, Kendra Malloy, said she just wants answers. 'I've been left in the blind,' Malloy said. 'You know, nobody has come up front. The police department has not contacted me. No police report. We were in the hospital for five days. Nobody reached out to us, like, they've said nothing, you know, like we're nobody.' After the news conference, News13 asked Myrtle Beach police and the SLED about Serenity's claim that she was shot by an officer and received the following response from police: 'This is an active investigation being led by SLED,' spokesman Randolph Angotti said. 'As the facts about this incident become available from SLED, we will share them with our community.' In a 'devastating turn of events' just six days after the Ocean Boulevard shooting, Malloy's 18-year-old son was wounded in another shooting at an after-prom party in Laurinburg, North Carolina, she wrote in a GoFundMe post. His injuries were not life-threatening. 'As a mother, I am doing everything in my power to be strong for both of my children,' Malloy wrote. 'But the emotional, physical, and financial burden is overwhelming. Laurinburg police are still investigating that shooting, which was one of two that occurred there late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. The shooting almost immediately garnered the attention of the civil rights group, True Healing Under God, or T.H.U.G., whose founder, John C. Barnett, organized the news conference at the Myrtle Beach police headquarters on N. Oak Street, a few blocks north of where the shooting happened. In a release ahead of the news conference, the group said it expected to meet with Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune, who, along with Police Chief Amy Prock, has drawn criticism in the days after the Saturday night shooting in the busy downtown business district, where millions of tourists visit every summer. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was called in to handle the investigation because the shooting involved a Myrtle Beach police officer. Davis' mother, Jaeishala Fox, told News13 last Thursday that her family had met with SLED investigators. The agency said last week that Davis was 'armed' and 'shooting into a crowd,' an allegation that his mother disputes. Three Myrtle Beach police officers were placed on paid leave after the shooting. Barnett, who created after his brother was murdered by his cousin in 1994, has handled multiple high-profile cases: one involving an Emmett Till demonstration in Raleigh, North Carolina; one that involved the torture of two black men by six local sheriff's deputies in Rankin County, Mississippi; and one tied to the death of Shanquella Robinson of Charlotte, North Carolina. * * * Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
