A Former NBA Star’s Ex-wife Hired Her Secret Lover to Kill Him.
Here’s how long they will spend in prison.
Last week, Shelby County Court Judge Lee Coffee handed Billy Ray Turner a life term in prison without the possibility of parole in the shooting death of former Memphis Grizzlies star Lorenzen Wright, 34. Turner was found guilty and convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
According to prosecutors, on July 28, 2010, authorities responded to a swampy field on the east side of Memphis where Wright’s body was found riddled with gunshot wounds. Wright was reported missing some days earlier. During the investigation, authorities discovered the victim’s wife, Sherra Wright, had hired Turner, whom she met at her church, to kill her husband. The duo was secretly involved romantically, reported CBS Sports. In addition, she also recruited the help of her cousin, Jimmie Martin, to carry out the plan.
Martin testified Sherra Wright had promised them a payout upon a successful assassination of her husband. At first, Turner and Martin headed to Wright’s condominium in Atlanta to execute the plan, but the victim was not home. Though he wasn’t present at a second attempt, Sherra Wright later confessed to him that she and Turner had lured the 6 feet 11 inches father of six to the field and shot him while he was on a visit to Memphis.
Martin, who was also facing a murder charge in an unrelated case for killing his girlfriend at the time of the murder, also told investigators he helped dispose of the murder weapon used in the slaying. FBI divers found the gun in a north Mississippi lake after Martin provided the location following the tip.
In a rebuttal, Turner’s defense lawyer John Keith Perry argued his client was not in Memphis at the time of the killing but claimed it was Martin who shot Wright.
Though the motive for the killing remains unclear, Wright’s mother Deborah Marion believed it was all about the life insurance policy.
“That’s what it was about. Money,” said Marion, according to NBC News.
Sherra was paid $1 million after the death of her ex-husband.
On the other hand, with insurmountable evidence against her, Sherra Wright pleaded guilty and received a 30-year sentence in prison for the murder. Though Martin received immunity for his testimony, he is currently serving time in prison for the killing of his girlfriend.
Turner was also sentenced to 16 years in prison after two guns were found in his possession during his arrest.
