Juries in Memphis, TN have found Billy Ray Turner guilty of first-degree murder and a separate count of attempted first-degree murder for the slaying of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright.
The “Billy Ray Turner update 2021” is a news story that has been circulating the internet. It reports on Billy Ray Turner’s conviction for killing former NBA player Lorenzen Wright.
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – On Monday, a Tennessee jury found a man guilty in the death of former NBA star Lorenzen Wright, whose bullet-riddled corpse was discovered in a field in his hometown of Memphis over 12 years ago.
Billy Ray Turner, a 6-foot-11-inch center who played 13 seasons in the NBA before retiring after the 2008-09 season, was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy by a 12-person jury following a two-hour deliberation. Turner, 51, was sentenced to life in prison by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee for the murder conviction. The remaining charges will be dealt with at a later date.
Coffee referred to Wright as “a holy son” of Memphis and advised his mother, Deborah Marion, to “enjoy the good” about her son despite the fact that the trial would not offer her peace.
Marion expressed her delight at the judgment outside the courthouse. She said that she will pay a visit to her son’s cemetery on Monday evening.
“Marion said, “There will never be closure since I will never see my son again.” “This is just a sense of fulfillment for myself and my family.”
The assassination has become one of Memphis’ most well-known murder cases. On July 28, 2010, Wright’s rotting corpse was discovered in a marshy area near east Memphis, riddled with gunshot wounds. Before his corpse was recovered, the 34-year-old father of six had been missing for days.
Turner had previously pled guilty to having a firearm as a convicted felon after being caught with two pistols when he was arrested in the 2017 murder of Wright. Turner is now serving a 16-year term on a different firearms offense.
Prosecutors say Wright’s ex-wife, Sherra Wright, plotted the murder of her ex-husband and enlisted the cooperation of Turner and her cousin, Jimmie Martin.
More than seven years after the homicide, Turner and Sherra Wright were charged in December 2017. Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to facilitation of murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in July 2019.
Turner is a landscaper who knew Sherra Wright from church and had a covert love involvement with her, according to prosecutors.
Martin was facing allegations of murdering his girlfriend at the time of Wright’s murder, and he stated his cousin helped pay some of his legal bills. Martin was found guilty in that case and is presently spending time in jail. In the Wright case, he has been granted immunity from prosecution.
Sherra Wright allegedly hired Martin and Turner to assassinate Lorenzen Wright, according to Martin. Defense counsel John Keith Perry questioned parts of his testimony, claiming that the information Martin provided to investigators was a farce and full of falsehoods.
Martin said that he and Turner met with Sherra Wright to plot the assassination and then proceeded to Lorenzen Wright’s Atlanta apartment to shoot him, with the idea that he would be compensated.
Turner and Martin, armed with firearms, proceeded to Wright’s Atlanta apartment, entered via a window, and saw someone sleeping on the sofa in the living area — but it wasn’t Lorenzen Wright, according to Martin. Turner and Martin arrived to their destination without murdering anybody.
Martin informed prosecutor Paul Hagerman that he was in Batesville, Mississippi, shortly after midnight on July 19, 2010, when the incident occurred. Martin said that he went to the Memphis field with Sherra Wright a few days after the incident and that she basically confessed.
Lorenzen Wright came to Memphis on a business trip from Atlanta. Martin said that Sherra Wright enticed her ex-husband to the field by telling him she was going to meet someone there to obtain some money. According to Martin, she and Turner attacked and pursued Lorenzen Wright, who hopped a fence and attempted to flee before being shot in the field.
Lorenzen Wright’s terrifying 911 call, which caught the pop-pop-pop sound of many gunshots, was played to the jury.
Martin further said that Turner and Wright disposed of evidence from the shooting site, and that he traveled with Turner to discard the weapon in a north Mississippi lake. Martin said that in 2012, he informed police where the pistol was hidden. FBI divers subsequently discovered it.
Perry said Martin’s “crazy, manufactured” account was not plausible in closing arguments. Martin, not Turner, was in Memphis the night Lorenzen Wright was shot, according to Perry.
Martin’s testimony was supported by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, who said that Martin’s immunity deal obligated him to speak the truth and that his comments to investigators and prosecutors were consistent.
Sherra Wright informed Turner during a meeting at her residence, according to prosecutor Austin Scofield, that Lorenzen Wright had a hit out on her.
According to witness evidence, Turner replied, “What do you want me to do, Sherra?”
Turner and Sherra Wright did not testify at the trial.
The assassins were motivated by envy and money, according to Hagerman, but the cause for the killing remained unknown.
Sherra Wright was awarded $1 million from her ex-life husband’s insurance policy after settling a court case in 2014 about how she used the money allocated for their six children.
Marion, the mother of the dead athlete, believes Sherra Wright was motivated by the insurance coverage.
“It was all about it.” ‘Money,’ Marion explained.
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