Lorenzen Wright's brutal murder - A detailed case overview

Lorenzen Wright's murder is one of the most horrifying stories among case histories in sports. Wright was a well-known NBA player who played thirteen seasons, with a longstanding association with Memphis, Tennessee.

He was murdered in July of 2010; the slow-moving investigation that followed lasted seven years and culminated in a murder-for-hire conspiracy by one of the people closest to him, his ex-wife, Sherra Wright.

The public was shocked and intently focused on the case of Lorenzen Wright's sudden disappearance, a cryptic 911 call, and the discovery of his body. There were misleading and fraudulent statements, financial motives, and contacts with multiple suspects, including persons with histories of violent crimes.

Season 31, episode 23 of Dateline features the Lorenzen Wright case. The episode aired on March 17, 2023.

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Disappearance and 911 call

Lorenzen Wright was last seen on July 18, 2010, after he was dropped off at his ex-wife Sherra Wright’s home in Collierville, Tennessee, where he frequently slept during his visits to see his children. His mother, Deborah Marion, filed a missing person report on July 22. She had not heard from him in several days and was concerned, as reported by CNN, according to Oxygen.com.

Lorenzen Wright's mother, Deborah Marion, filed a missing person report on July 22(Image via Unsplash)

At 12:12 a.m. on July 19, a 911 call was placed from Wright’s phone to Germantown police. The operator reported Wright yelling, “Hey, Goddamn!” and then hearing a volley of gunfire until the call ended. Although the call was treated as an emergency, it was not investigated further, nor was it shared with other departments at the time.

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Discovery of Lorenzen Wright's body

On July 28, 2010, police located Lorenzen Wright's body in a wooded area in southeast Memphis. He had already been dead for days, and as a youth, in an advanced state of decomposition due to the summer heat. Nearby, investigators located shell casings from two weapons, indicating that multiple shooters fired at Wright.

An autopsy determined Wright had been shot five times, twice in the head, twice in the chest, and once in his arm, as reported by WMC-TV, cited in Oxygen.com.

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Financial motives came to light

Following his passing, investigators found evidence that Sherra Wright was the beneficiary of a $1 million life insurance policy and that she had spent the entirety of it, about $970,000, within ten months. Sherra told law enforcement that Lorenzen left her house with a box of drugs and a box of money and that unknown men picked him up.

Financial motives came to light (Image via Unsplash)

However, investigators became suspicious almost immediately, as reported by CBS News, cited in Oxygen.com. Lorenzen's family and friends disputed that Lorenzen had any affiliations with criminal activity.

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Arrests and testimonies

The case went cold and sat dormant until 2017, when the alleged weapon used to murder Lorenzen Wright was taken out of a lake in Mississippi thanks to information from Jimmie Martin, who is Sherra's cousin.

Jimmie testified that Sherra conspired with him and Billy Ray Turner to murder Lorenzen. Jimmie testified he wasn't there when Lorenzen was murdered, but he did assist in getting rid of the weapons. He agreed to testify in return for immunity, as reported by Associated Press, via Oxygen.com.

In December of 2017, Sherra Wright and Billy Ray Turner were arrested. Sherra Wright took a guilty plea to facilitation of murder in 2019 and received a 30-year sentence. Billy Ray Turner was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2022, as reported by NBC News (according to Oxygen.com).

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Season 31, episode 23 of Dateline can be streamed on NBC.

Edited by Bharath S