Lorenzen Wright’s murder was shocking, suspicious and sad, but on Monday, justice was finally served.
Billy Ray Turner, the man accused of murdering the former NBA player, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Wright was a star basketball player born and raised in Memphis. He was a McDonald’s All-American, an All-American for the Memphis Tigers and played in the league for thirteen years with teams such as the Clippers, Hawks, Grizzlies, Kings and Cavaliers.
He was a local hero loved by his hometown, which is where he was killed by Turner in a murder orchestrated by Wright’s ex-wife, Sherra Wright.
In July of 2010, Wright went missing for 10 days. His body was eventually found in the woods near Memphis. It was a case that baffled and frustrated investigators for seven years.
Rumors swirled that it might have been a drug deal gone bad, especially as he was shot multiple times, but nothing was concrete.
Then, in 2017, Memphis police finally caught a break when they received a tip and ultimately found the gun used to kill Wright in a river in Mississippi roughly 75 miles east of Memphis. Afterward, they arrested Turner, 51, in early December 2017, and that’s when the pieces started to fall into place.
Turner and Sherra Wright attended the same church, and so a connection was established.
A few weeks later, they arrested Wright in California and charged her with first-degree murder.
Turns out, according to authorities at the time, it wasn’t the first time Sherra had tried to have Lorenzen killed.
The first attempt took place in Atlanta. When that failed, she finally hatched a plan to lure him to the field where he was killed under the guise that they were meeting someone who owed her money.
A year after her arrest, Sherra pled guilty to facilitation of murder and facilitation to commit first-degree murder and was given a 30-year prison sentence. Sadly, she’s eligible for parole after only nine years.
As for Turner, he pled not guilty but after two hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty and he’ll now spend the rest of his life in prison.
Let’s hope that Lorenzen can finally rest in peace now.
