File:Lorenzen Wright (crop).jpg — Credit: Lorenzen_Wright.JPG : Original uploader was Nick81aku at en.wikipedia derivative work: Amineshaker ( talk ) · Public domain
Lorenzen Wright was a Memphis-area basketball player who spent thirteen seasons in the NBA after being selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1996 draft. He also played for the Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and Cleveland Cavaliers, and was a well-known local figure in Memphis, where he had played high school and college basketball.
On July 18, 2010, Wright left the Collierville, Tennessee, home of his estranged wife, Sherra Wright-Robinson, from whom he had separated in February 2010 amid divorce proceedings. It was the last time he was seen alive. In the early hours of July 19, 2010, a 911 call was placed from Wright's cell phone; eleven gunshots were audible while the caller was on the line with a Germantown, Tennessee, dispatcher. The dispatcher did not report the call to a supervisor until July 28, ten days later, a delay that hindered the investigation and later resulted in a payout to Wright's family.
Wright's family filed a missing-persons report on July 22, 2010. On July 28, 2010, his body was found in a wooded area on Callis-Cutoff Road, near Hacks Cross Road, and the case was investigated as a homicide. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Memphis. By 2011, a reward for information in the case had grown to $21,000, funded by the state of Tennessee, the city of Memphis, the Memphis Grizzlies, and Crime Stoppers.
The investigation remained unresolved for years. On November 9, 2017, a gun believed to have been used in the killing was recovered from a lake in Walnut, Mississippi. On December 5, 2017, Billy Ray Turner, a landscaper and church deacon in Collierville, was indicted on first-degree murder charges and held on $1 million bond. On December 15, 2017, Wright-Robinson, a former member of Turner's church, was arrested in Riverside, California. Records showed police had searched Wright-Robinson's home as early as August 1, 2010, and found burned pieces of metal and a letter addressed to Wright and her, though authorities did not disclose what significance the items held at the time. Wright's mother told a Memphis newspaper that she believed Wright-Robinson's motive involved a $1 million life-insurance policy on her son.
On July 25, 2019, Wright-Robinson pleaded guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In March 2022, a jury convicted Turner of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and attempted first-degree murder; he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The seven-year investigation had been one of the Memphis Police Department's more high-profile unsolved cases before the arrests.
Wright and his wife, Sherra, separate; Sherra files for divorce.
2010-07-18
Wright is last seen alive, leaving his estranged wife's home in Collierville, Tennessee.
2010-07-19
A 911 call from Wright's cell phone reaches a Germantown, Tennessee dispatcher; eleven gunshots are heard during the call.
2010-07-22
Wright's family files a missing-persons report.
2010-07-28
Wright's body is found in a wooded area on Callis-Cutoff Road, near Hacks Cross Road; the dispatcher who took the July 19 911 call reports it to a supervisor for the first time on this date.
2011
A reward for information in the case reaches $21,000, funded by the state of Tennessee, the city of Memphis, the Memphis Grizzlies, and Crime Stoppers.
2017-11-09
A gun believed to have been used in the killing is found in a lake in Walnut, Mississippi.
2017-12-05
Billy Ray Turner is indicted on first-degree murder charges and held on $1 million bond.
2017-12-15
Sherra Wright-Robinson is arrested in Riverside, California, in connection with the murder.
2019-07-25
Wright-Robinson pleads guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder and is sentenced to 30 years in prison.
2022-03
Turner is convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and attempted first-degree murder, and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Truly Criminal / 45 min
Murder In Memphis: The Case Of Lorenzen Wright
People
Billy Ray Turner
CONVICTED
Landscaper and church deacon indicted in December 2017 on first-degree murder charges; convicted in March 2022 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and attempted first-degree murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Lorenzen Wright
VICTIM
Former NBA player found shot to death in the Collierville area of Shelby County, Tennessee, after being reported missing in July 2010.
Sherra Wright-Robinson
CONVICTED
Wright's ex-wife; charged in December 2017 with facilitating his murder and pleaded guilty in July 2019 to facilitation of first-degree murder, receiving a 30-year prison sentence.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
portrait victim
File:Lorenzen Wright (crop).jpg
Credit: Lorenzen_Wright.JPG : Original uploader was Nick81aku at en.wikipedia derivative work: Amineshaker ( talk ) · Public domain · Source
Lorenzen Wright, a former NBA player, went missing from Collierville, Tennessee, in July 2010 and was found shot to death days later. Seven years afterward, his ex-wife Sherra Wright-Robinson pleaded guilty to facilitating his murder, and her friend Billy Ray Turner was convicted of carrying it out.
Where did the murder happen?
Collierville, Tennessee, United States.
Who was convicted?
Billy Ray Turner (Landscaper and church deacon indicted in December 2017 on first-degree murder charges; convicted in March 2022 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and attempted first-degree murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment.) and Sherra Wright-Robinson (Wright's ex-wife; charged in December 2017 with facilitating his murder and pleaded guilty in July 2019 to facilitation of first-degree murder, receiving a 30-year prison sentence.).
