Investigation Reports. Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Billy Ray Turner to 25 years for the conspiracy and attempted murder of Lorenzen Wright. Turner claims he’s innocent and appealed his case in August 2023.
WREG News Interview with Billy Ray Turner
Billy Ray Turner, the man convicted of killing basketball player Lorenzen Wright, spoke out from behind bars. A special report from the investigative team at WREG in Memphis. Billy Ray Turner maintains his innocence and hopes for an appeal years after he was convicted of the murder of Lorenzen Wright.
The Mystery of Lorenzen Wright’s Murder Solved
After the decomposed body of 34-year-old Former NBA Player Lorenzen Wright was found, Shelby County Law Enforcement Officers ramped up their investigation. The 7-year probe into his death was one of the Memphis Police Department’s more high-profile unsolved cases.
The coroner’s report said Lorenzen had been hit by five bullets from two different guns: two shots to the head, two to the chest, and one to his right arm. According to investigators, robbery did not appear to be a motive. A watch and chain was found on his skeletal remains.
As months turned into years, the city became obsessed with solving the murder of its favorite son. Despite the enormous pressure to solve the case, the investigation was hampered from the very beginning. Then, seven long years after the murder, police got the break they needed.
Widespread coverage of Lorenzen Wright’s disappearance, as well as his status as a popular Memphis figure, led to the prosecution of his murder being highly publicized in Memphis.
Who wanted Lorenzen Wright dead, and how did a beloved basketball player’s life end so tragically? A surprise development in one of Memphis, Tennessee’s most prominent murder cases.
The mystery surrounding his death baffled investigators for years until a break in the case led to the 2017 arrest of Billy Ray Turner and Lorenzen Wright’s ex-wife, Sherra.
Prosecutors Star Witness: Jimmie Martin—Sherra Wright’s Cousin
Jimmie Martin, a third person involved in the murder plot, was unveiled as the “unindicted co-conspirator.” He was the tipster who directed law enforcement to a gun used to kill Lorenzen Wright and to the spot where it was eventually found. Jimmie Martin testified about the scheme at Billy Ray Turner’s trial. Jimmie Martin was convicted of a separate murder after Lorenzen’s slaying and is serving prison time in that case. Jimmie Martin received immunity for testimony that helped convict Billy Ray Turner.
According to Prosecutors, together, Sherra Wright, Jimmie Martin, and Billy Ray Turner completed the triad of Lorenzen Wright’s killers. While Sherra did not have a criminal history, she did have a million reasons to want him dead.
Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, testified that he was living in the Atlanta area at the time of his death. Lorenzen and Sherra were married for thirteen years and had six children at the time of their divorce in February 2010. Ms. Marion said he had a $1 million insurance policy and a pension from the National Basketball Association.
Prosecutors said Lorenzen’s ex-wife, Sherra Wright, masterminded a plan to kill her ex-husband and recruited Billy Ray Turner and her cousin Jimmie Martin to help her.
Charges Against Billy Ray Turner
Billy Ray Turner and Sherra Wright were indicted on first-degree murder charges in December 2017, more than 7 years after the killing of Lorenzen Wright. She entered a surprise guilty plea on the lesser charge of facilitation of murder, but Turner claimed he was innocent. Rather than take a plea deal, he went to trial in March 2022.
First-Degree Murder
As charged, “first-degree murder is a premeditated and intentional killing of another.” A person acts intentionally “when it is the person’s conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result.”
Billy Ray Turner argues there was “no proof” that he killed the victim. He asserts there was “no direct testimony that placed him on the scene the night of the murder.” He claims the only evidence against him came from the testimony of Sherra Wright’s cousin, Jimmie Martin, “who gave conflicting testimony and was impeached, and circumstantial evidence based on phone location information.”
Premeditation means that the intent to kill must have been formed prior to the act itself. It is not necessary that the purpose to kill pre-exists in the mind of the accused for any definite period of time. The mental state of the accused at the time the accused allegedly decided to kill must be carefully considered in order to determine whether the accused was sufficiently free from excitement and passion to be capable of premeditation.
Among the circumstances that may support a finding of premeditation are: Evidence of procurement of a weapon, the use of a deadly weapon upon an unarmed victim, the particular cruelty of the killing, infliction of multiple wounds, preparation before the killing for concealment of the crime, destruction or secretion of evidence of the murder, and calmness immediately after the killing. Additionally, a jury may infer premeditation from a lack of provocation by the victim and the defendant’s failure to aid the victim.
Both Ms. Robinson and Mr. Martin testified that Billy Ray Turner was present at two separate meetings at which Ms. Wright expressed her desire to have Lorenzen Wright killed. Before his death, Billy Ray and Jimmie Martin had previously gone to Georgia in an attempt to kill Lorenzen on behalf of Sherra Wright, but he was not home when they arrived.
Memphis: In the early morning hours of July 19, 2010, Billy Ray Turner’s and Lorenzen Wright’s cellular phones both made calls from the same cell phone tower near the wooded area in which Lorenzen’s body was recovered—the victim’s 911 call was placed at 12:12 a.m., and Billy Ray Turner placed a call two minutes later. After the murder, Ms. Wright told Jimmie Martin how she had led Lorenzen to Callis Cut Off Road in an attempt to “see someone about some money” before she and Billy Ray ambushed and killed him.
After Lorenzen’s death, Billy Ray Turner, Sherra Wright, and Jimmie Martin returned to the field where Lorenzen was left to die to retrieve a 9 mm handgun and cut barbed wire the victim may have jumped over during the killing. Billy Ray and Jimmie Martin disposed of this evidence, with Billy Ray and Jimmie driving to a Mississippi lake and Billy Ray throwing the 9 mm handgun into the lake. After FBI divers recovered the gun from the lake, TBI forensic testing matched it with 9 mm bullet casings and two 9 mm hollow-point bullets found at the crime scene. This evidence was sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Billy Ray Turner was directly involved in the planning and execution of Lorenzen Wright.
Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder
The essential feature of a conspiracy is the agreement or understanding to accomplish a criminal or unlawful act. A conspiracy exists when: Two or more people, each having the culpable mental state required for the offense that is the object of the conspiracy and each acting for the purpose of promoting or facilitating commission of an offense, agree that one or more of them will engage in conduct that constitutes the offense.
Conspiracy is a continuing course of conduct that terminates when the objectives of the conspiracy are completed, or the agreement that they be completed is abandoned by the person and by those with whom the person conspired.
Attempted First-Degree Murder
Jimmie Martin testified that at a second meeting at Sherra Wright’s home, killing Lorenzen in Atlanta was discussed as a possibility. As with the conspiracy conviction, much of the evidence of Billy Ray Turner’s attempted first-degree murder conviction came from Jimmie Martin’s testimony. Mr. Martin testified that he met with Billy Ray and Sherra Wright to discuss Lorenzen’s murder and that Sherra Wright instructed him and Billy Ray to drive to the victim’s condominium in Georgia. Jimmie said that he and Billy Ray drove to the condominium, armed themselves, entered through a window Ms. Wright had left unlocked, and searched the condo for Lorenzen, only to leave once they realized he was not there.
Lorenzen Wright’s Mysterious Disappearance
Wright was 34 years old. Lorenzen was recently divorced from his wife, Sherra Wright, of 13 years and was the father of their six children. Their divorce had been finalized just 5 months before his decomposed body was found.
On Sunday, July 18, 2010, Lorenzen Wright visited Memphis from his Georgia home to see his children and attend his sister’s baby shower. He had a chance to interact with his children and watch his teenage son, Lorenzen Jr., play basketball. Sadly, it would be the last time.
That evening, Lorenzen visited his ex-wife at their house in Collierville, Tennessee. Sherra Wright told police that Lorenzen left the house with another person, whom she did not know, and that they drove off in a vehicle she did not recognize.
Authorities said after leaving his home in Collierville, Lorenzen was not seen nor heard from again.
The last time Deborah Marion saw her son was shortly before July 4, 2010, when he told his mother he planned to visit Memphis on July 17 or 18 for his sister’s baby shower. When he did not attend the baby shower, Ms. Marion attempted to call him to find out where he was. When he did not answer her calls, she called his oldest daughter, who had tried to call her father five times after the baby shower, but he did not answer. After unsuccessful attempts to reach her son, Ms. Marion spoke with Sherra Wright, who did not say Lorenzen was missing but told her that the “police better do they job.” This response caused Ms. Marion substantial concern. Ms. Marion said Sherra never reported Lorenzen as a missing person.
Investigator Browning stated that Lorenzen Wright flew into Memphis on July 18, 2010, and was murdered at 12:12 a.m. on July 19, 2010. Between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on July 18, the victim went to a Lifetime Fitness location in Memphis to pick up his 15-year-old son and then drove to Ms. Wright’s house to drop off the child. The police investigation revealed that no one spoke to the victim, perhaps other than Ms. Wright, between that time and the time the victim was killed.
At 12:12 a.m. on July 19, 2010, a 911 call was placed from the victim’s phone. The call was routed to Germantown dispatch. An audio recording of that call was played for the jury at trial. On the recording, an initial gunshot is heard, followed by a male voice yelling, “Oh, f***.” A different male voice then says, “Get him.” Two more gunshots are heard, accompanied by another man’s strained voice crying out, “Oh, g**d***.” Another gunshot is heard, followed by a pause, two more gunshots, and another pause, followed by six gunshots in rapid succession. The 911 dispatcher attempted to speak to the caller but received no response. After the gunshots ceased, the operator said, “Sounds like nothing but gunshots.”
No law enforcement agency was contacted immediately after the 911 call.
Then, at 1:27 a.m. on the day after Lorenzen’s death, Ms. Wright sent a text to Lorenzen’s phone saying that their children had “waited for him all day,” and the person who was to take him to Atlanta had come by the house looking for him.
Meanwhile, on July 22, his family filed a missing person report. Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, called the police to express concern that neither she nor any other family members had heard from Lorenzen. This prompted a multi-day investigation, which included interviews with persons who had last seen him.
Collierville police discovered the 911 call while investigating Lorenzen’s disappearance. The Germantown police identified a potential area from which the 911 call was made, a location that corresponded to the wooded area near Callis Cut Off Road.
Investigators learned that his call for help as shots were fired bounced to Germantown, Tennessee, where the 911 operator failed to report it.
On July 28, 2010, law enforcement searched the area and found the victim’s body. He’d been dead for 9 days when police cadaver dogs found his skeletal remains. The shooting did not appear to be connected to a robbery gone wrong. A necklace and other jewelry, including an expensive wristwatch, were found on the remains. Prosecutors introduced several crime scene photographs of the area around Callis Cut Off Road, which showed what appeared to be several rows of barbed wire that had been cut from poles found in the wooded area. Three types of spent bullet casings—five .25 caliber, one 9 mm caliber, and one .380 caliber—were also found near the victim’s body. Bullet fragments were found in the victim’s arm, chest, and head.
Investigator Browning testified that before Lorenzen’s body was found, police were notified about a “large fire” in Ms. Wright’s backyard. Hours after the shooting, a neighbor of Sherra Wright noticed a perplexing event in her backyard. Sherra and an unidentified male ignited a bonfire. It was a strange occasion to have a bonfire. The temperature in Memphis that summer day reached 93 degrees, and with a dew point of 73, it was also quite muggy.
Sherra Wright was a key suspect. The police executed a search warrant at her house between the time of the victim’s disappearance and the recovery of his body. Officers found evidence suggesting documents had been burned in a fire pit. Photographs taken during the search of Ms. Wright’s backyard showed a burned fragment of paper featuring the word “north” and part of the word “attorneys.”
The police also obtained a search warrant for Ms. Wright’s cellular phone and discovered that roughly 25 minutes before Lorenzen’s 911 call was placed, Ms. Wright sent a text message to Billy Ray Turner which read, “Imma need my commission. Ren want you to bring your cards in the a.m. before he fly out. You owe me, boy.”
Lorenzen Wright’s Autopsy Report
According to the Shelby County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report, Lorenzen was shot twice in the head, twice near his heart, and once in his forearm. The toxicology test found no drugs in his system. The autopsy showed Lorenzen Wright’s body was so decomposed that the basketball player, who once stood at 6’11” and weighed 255 pounds, weighed just 57 lbs. when cadaver dogs found the remains. His body was reduced to mainly skeleton and mummified skin in the hundred-degree heat. By the time it had been discovered, his body had been exposed to intense heat, rain, and animals.
Lorenzen Wright’s Memorial Service
Hundreds of fans, friends, and family members of the former NBA player filed into the FedEx Forum in Memphis for Wright’s memorial service and funeral, remembering the man many called “Ren,” as a loving, gentle, charitable family man. Relatives and friends fought off tears, still in disbelief at the way he died.
Jeffrey L. Archie said that he may never understand why someone would kill his brother. “To me, he was invincible,” Archie said. “There’s no reason for anybody to take him like this.”
“As loving as Lorenzen was, and he gave so much to so many people… if we can just come together and love each other instead of all this violence, it will be a much better world,” his father Herb Wright said after the service.
Lorenzen Wright contributed to children’s charities, holding basketball camps, contributing to child reading programs, and visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
As people mourned, police worked to find the killers. Memphis Mayor A. C. Wharton said, “I want you to know that we are working day and night, not to see that things are done quickly, not to rush, but that things are done right and that justice will be done. That is our prayer.”
Memphis Investigation
Shelby County Prosecutor Paul Hagerman acknowledged that the case continued to stretch out longer than it needed to after Jimmie Martin stepped forward in 2012 because volunteer divers could not find the murder weapon in the lake. It had just rained, and visibility underwater was almost zero. That would change years later when new investigators got onto the case and had an FBI dive team take a look.
In 2012, acting on a tip from Sherra Wright’s cousin, Jimmie Martin, police searched for the murder weapon. He said he knew where the gun was and who killed Lorenzen. However, they needed to authenticate his story. Jimmie Martin gave a statement to police, which led law enforcement to focus on a lake near Walnut, Mississippi. Volunteers with the Holly Springs, Mississippi Fire Department searched the lake for the murder weapon but were unable to see in the water because of the rain. No weapon was found.
Jimmie Martin was out on bond during Lorenzen Wright’s murder but ended up getting convicted on a second-degree murder charge in 2012. That’s when he first stepped forward to investigators about his role in Lorenzen’s death.
Jimmie Martin recalled how Sherra masterminded a plan to kill Lorenzen in Atlanta earlier in 2010, but she failed to execute the plan herself. He testified that Sherra recruited him and the accused killer, Billy Ray Turner, for an initial attempt on Lorenzen’s life.
In 2016, Jesse Browning, an Investigator with the Memphis Police Department, was part of the renewed investigation into Lorenzen Wright’s death. The Task Force began re-interviewing family, friends, and known associates of Lorenzen.
Claudia Robinson—Sherra Wright’s Cousin
Claudia Robinson looked after Lorenzen and Sherra’s children from 2005 until his death. Ms. Robinson testified, “I was not the official nanny. I was just helping out when I could.” She said she was present at Ms. Wright’s home about five days per week during the summer of 2010, and she was not paid for her work.
Ms. Robinson recalled seeing Billy Ray Turner at Ms. Wright’s home quite often during the summer before Lorenzen’s death. On average, he visited the house a few times per week. She described Billy Ray as Ms. Wright’s yard man and acknowledged that there may have been a romantic relationship between them. Ms. Robinson recalled that one time, Ms. Wright and Billy Ray were in the kitchen when Ms. Wright, who Ms. Robinson described as “irate,” said the victim “had a hit on her.” Ms. Robinson responded, “Surely that’s not so. It’s no way you believe that.” Ms. Wright “insisted” that the victim had placed “a hit” on her and told Billy Ray, “It’s him or me. . . . Lorenzen has a hit on me. He has to be gone.”
According to Ms. Robinson, Billy Ray did not dissuade Ms. Wright’s talk about the victim’s supposed “hit” on her. Still, she acknowledged he did not discuss any plans to attack the victim during this conversation. After that conversation, Ms. Robinson gave the children lunch and heard no additional discussion between Billy Ray and Ms. Wright concerning Lorenzen that day.
Ms. Robinson recalled another conversation she overheard at Ms. Wright’s home between Ms. Wright, Billy Ray Turner, and another of Ms. Wright’s cousins, whom Ms. Robinson did not know. She referenced this cousin as “Jay,” but on cross-examination, defense counsel referred to him as “Jimmie.” Ms. Robinson denied speaking to Jimmie at any time. That time, Ms. Wright told the other two men, “I can’t believe he has a hit out on me. He wants me gone.” Ms. Robinson, again, expressed her disbelief over Ms. Wright’s claim. Ms. Wright still maintained her belief that the victim had a “hit” on her and “just kept saying, ‘It has to be him or me.’”
Ms. Robinson also testified that “Jay” told Ms. Wright that she (Ms. Robinson) “was going to be a problem,” to which Ms. Wright replied, “No, she’s not, because she can get offed, too.” Ms. Robinson then left from where she could hear and did not hear anything else between them about the victim. After the second conversation, Ms. Robinson stated, “I kind of distanced myself from being over there.”
Soon after, Ms. Robinson learned that Lorenzen Wright had been killed, and she was scared for her safety, given the earlier conversations between Billy Ray and Ms. Wright. That fear prevented her from contacting the police after Lorenzen’s death.
In late 2016 and early 2017, Ms. Robinson began cooperating with the police investigation into Lorenzen’s murder. At law enforcement’s direction, Ms. Robinson placed several phone calls to Ms. Wright, hoping that she would implicate herself in Lorenzen’s death. However, Ms. Wright made no such statements, and Ms. Robinson did not ask her about a potential romantic relationship with Billy Ray. Ms. Robinson also did not tell the police about a potential romantic relationship between the co-defendants or that Billy Ray had made an “agreement” to harm the victim. Ms. Robinson denied being offered $10,000 in “hush money” and denied traveling with Ms. Wright to Batesville, Mississippi, to pick up “Jay”/“Jimmie.” She acknowledged testifying as part of an immunity agreement but denied being part of the conspiracy to harm Lorenzen.
Rather, Ms. Robinson testified, “I signed [the immunity agreement] for my protection because I was at a house where a conversation was made, so—that I had nothing to do with it.”
The case had gone cold for 7 years with no significant leads until November 9, 2017, when the gun believed to have been used to carry out the killing was pulled from a Mississippi lake. Acting on a tip, Memphis Police went to a lake in Walnut, Mississippi. There, in the murky red clay water, they found a gun believed to be used in the killing.
Operation Rebound
In 2017, after Investigator Browning reviewed Jimmie Martin’s statement, he contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which searched the lake and found a 9 mm handgun in a specific area identified by Mr. Martin. Investigators kept the gun’s recovery a secret because, at that time, they were trying to obtain a wiretap. After the wiretap was authorized, MPD issued a press release stating that the 9 mm handgun had been found.
When they found the gun, authorities put both Sherra and Billy Ray under surveillance to see what they did. Sherra Wright, then living in California, became “distraught, despondent, suicidal” and wanted to return to Memphis as soon as possible. She hardly told anyone. This was unplanned, said the Prosecutor. In the State’s account, she needed to contact someone personally instead of calling. That someone was Turner, Hagerman said.
Lt. Beasley testified that wiretaps were placed on Billy Ray’s and Ms. Wright’s phones after the gun was found in the Mississippi lake. After the media publicized the gun’s recovery, Ms. Wright contacted Billy Ray on another person’s phone after she traveled from California to Memphis. They arranged to meet at a friend’s house. Memphis police observed the meeting between Ms. Wright and Billy Ray, but because there was no audio surveillance, the police did not know what they discussed.
In recorded phone conversations, Ms. Wright sounded “pretty distressed” that the gun was found. She had moved away from the Tennessee area by this time but made an unplanned trip to Memphis. Ms. Wright, who was under surveillance, was reluctant to communicate through her phone but had another woman send text messages to Billy Ray Turner on her behalf. Investigator Browning also acknowledged Ms. Wright met with several persons other than Billy Ray when she visited Memphis after the gun was recovered from the lake.
Another MPD detective testified that on November 12, 2017, he was conducting surveillance on Billy Ray and Ms. Wright. This detective knew, based on information obtained from a wiretap, that they were planning to meet at a particular Shelby County location. The detective and other officers surveilling the co-defendants stayed nearby in unmarked police cars. Billy Ray and Ms. Wright met at the arranged meeting place and were seen walking up and down the street and talking for around 35 minutes. Photographs the detective took of the two as they spoke were introduced into evidence.
Billy Ray Turner’s Arrest
After finding the gun, the case took an unexpected turn. On December 5, police arrested Billy Ray Turner in a convenience store in Collierville, Tennessee. Billy Ray Turner was then a 47-year-old landscaper. He maintained Sherra Wright’s lawn and was also a Deacon at his church. Billy Ray Turner’s bond was set at $15 million.
Memphis Police Interview Turner After His Arrest
Detective Frias was also part of Operation Rebound’s investigation. On December 5, 2017, Det. Frias and another detective interviewed Billy Ray Turner after his arrest. Detective Frias advised Billy Ray Turner of his Miranda rights, and he waived them and agreed to speak with the detectives.
During the interview, Billy Ray Turner told Det. Frias he had no personal or professional relationship with Lorenzen Wright, but he was the yard man for Ms. Sherra Wright. Billy Ray explained that he knew one of Ms. Wright’s aunts who lived in Batesville. He said he had seen the aunt’s son, Jimmie Martin, “a couple of times.” He knew that Jimmie Martin had gotten in a “little trouble” for killing his girlfriend. When Det. Frias asked him whether he had a sexual relationship with Ms. Wright, he said they had been intimate one time.
Billy Ray told the detective he did not recall his whereabouts at the time of Lorenzen Wright’s death and claimed that he may have been with his sister, but he was unsure of his exact location.
When the detective questioned him about his car being seen in front of Ms. Wright’s house the morning after Lorenzen was killed, he had no verbal answer but “dropped his head and “put his head down.” Detective Frias testified that he showed Billy Ray photo arrays containing pictures of Jimmie Martin and Sherra Wright. Billy Ray did not identify these persons at first but did so once the detective confronted him about lying.
The detective asked Billy Ray about business cards and Lorenzen Wright, an apparent reference to the text message, “Imma need my commission. Ren want you to bring your cards in the a.m. before he fly out. You owe me, boy.” Billy Ray visibly reacted, and “shook his head up and down in agreement with that.”
Detective Frias showed Billy Ray a picture of the 9 mm handgun retrieved from the lake, and the detective described that his manner quickly changed: “It was like seeing a ghost. He got, like, real nervous, and you could see his entire demeanor and body language change. You could actually see his heartbeat through his shirt.” Billy Ray admitted that he had handled guns before and owned a .38 caliber revolver and a shotgun, but he was unsure whether he had handled the gun depicted in the photograph. Billy Ray also claimed Ms. Wright owned a .38 caliber handgun, but it had been stolen from her car before the murder.
During the December 2017 interview, Billy Ray Turner denied any involvement in killing Lorenzen Wright or conspiring with Ms. Wright and Mr. Martin to plan the killing. Billy Ray claimed he had last seen Ms. Wright a couple of weeks before the interview when she had “randomly showed up” at his church. Detective Frias confronted him with a text message sent by Ms. Wright from another person’s phone in which Ms. Wright asked to meet with him, and the detective told him that police had observed a meeting between him and Ms. Wright. Billy Ray did not respond to the detective’s comments.
The detective then confronted Billy Ray with Jimmie Martin’s statement to police, to which Billy Ray replied that he had driven Ms. Wright to Batesville after Lorenzen’s death. Billy Ray claimed that Ms. Wright told him she needed a metal detector because she had lost a diamond ring and needed to find it.
Billy Ray Turner also acknowledged visiting Atlanta before Lorenzen’s death but told Det. Frias he was visiting relatives, and that Jimmie Martin was in Atlanta by coincidence. But when Det. Frias asked Billy Ray for the names and phone numbers of the relatives, he could not provide this information. Shortly after this exchange, Billy Ray Turner ended the interview by invoking his right to counsel.
Cell Phone Records and Digital Forensic Examination
Investigator Browning testified that at the time of Lorenzen Wright’s death, Billy Ray Turner lived about two or three miles from the area where Lorenzen’s body was found, while Sherra Wright lived “three or four times as far” from this location.
MPD Sergeant Dennis Evans joined the Operation Rebound investigation and conducted the digital forensic examination in this case. Sergeant Evans was qualified as a certified expert in digital forensics and cellular phone records examination. He testified that his process for obtaining digital data was as follows: obtain a warrant, extract data from a phone, and then upload or analyze that data. Sergeant Evans presented evidence based on cell phone records from Sherra Wright, Billy Ray Turner, and Jimmie Martin.
The records indicated the location of the cell towers used, which made it possible to “map out the tower and the side and the base of the tower that was utilized.” Sergeant Evans analyzed Billy Ray Turner’s cell phone records from July 5, 2010 to August 5, 2010. He stated that he only had call records, not text messages, from Defendant’s phone because he used C-Spire, which only retained records for about two years.
Sergeant Evans testified that between July 5 and August 5, 2010, Billy Ray spoke on the phone with Ms. Wright 186 times. Between those same dates, Billy Ray spoke on the phone with Jimmie Martin 17 times.
Investigator Browning stated that Lorenzen Wright flew into Memphis on July 18, 2010. His 911 call for help was at 12:12 a.m. on July 19, 2010.
Billy Ray’s Cell Phone
On July 18, 2010, at 8:42 p.m., Billy Ray called Sherra Wright. Sergeant Evans stated that his phone was within the coverage area of a tower that included Ms. Wright’s house. Sgt. Evans noted that it was impossible to tell, from the records alone, whether the call came from Ms. Wright’s home, her yard, or down the street from her house.
At 8:54 p.m., there was another call between Billy Ray and Ms. Wright using the same tower. Sergeant Evans stated that 9:56 p.m. was the last call Billy Ray made in the Collierville area.
At 11:41 p.m., there was a phone call from Billy Ray to Jimmie Martin that lasted thirty-nine seconds. At 11:47 p.m., there was a phone call from Billy Ray to his girlfriend.
At 12:01 a.m. on July 19, 2010, Billy Ray received a phone call from a Batesville, Mississippi payphone. At 12:12 a.m., Jimmie Martin called Billy Ray. Every call was less than forty-five seconds. Sgt. Evans testified, “Anything less than forty-five seconds to a minute is usually not answered.”
Sergeant Evans stated that the phone was accounted for at Billy Ray Turner’s home base until 11:47 p.m., and then the next time C-Spire provided sufficient data was at 12:14 a.m., which was two minutes after Lorenzen Wright’s 911 call. At that time, Billy Ray’s phone was not using his home base tower; it was using the tower in the area where the homicide took place “about 2.87 miles” from Billy Ray’s home base tower. At 12:14 a.m., Billy Ray’s phone utilized that tower on that sector to connect to a call. “I can’t tell you if the phone was on Winchester. I can’t tell you if the phone was exactly at the homicide scene. But it utilized… it changed from what is close to his house to that other tower at fourteen minutes after midnight.”
Sherra Wright’s Cell Phone
Sergeant Evans next analyzed Sherra Wright’s records. He stated that he managed to obtain more data from her records because he had her cellular phone, and she used AT&T, which retained its records for a longer period. Sergeant Evans analyzed Sherra Wright’s phone from 2010 and testified that he did a physical extraction, or download, of her phone. He found that “she had deleted all the messages between herself and Billy Ray Turner between July 18, 2010, and July 23, 2010,” but he was able to recover 83 of them.
Sergeant Evans “did a timeline search for Ms. Wright and Mr. Martin” and “found 14 instant messages between Sherra Wright and Jimmie Martin. The date range was July 15 to July 17, 2010. And, again, all the instant messages between Ms. Wright and Mr. Martin were also deleted on Ms. Wright’s iPhone.”
On July 16, 2010 at 1:28 p.m., Ms. Wright sent a text message to Jimmie Martin that said, “I know you tired of me and my party, but what’s up?” A few minutes later, Mr. Martin replied, “You’re good. Everybody’s straight.”
On July 18, 2010, at 8:42 p.m., Billy Ray called Sherra Wright. Sergeant Evans stated that his phone was within the coverage area of a tower that included Ms. Wright’s house.
At 8:54 p.m., there was another call between Billy Ray and Ms. Wright using the same tower. Sergeant Evans stated that 9:56 p.m. was the last call Billy Ray made in the Collierville area.
“The next call is going to be at 10:52 p.m., and Defendant [Billy Ray] is going to be utilizing the tower that is within about two-tenths of his house, two-tenths of a mile from his house.” From 10:52 to 11:47 p.m., Billy Ray was using the tower closest to his home for four phone calls.
Referencing his presentation, he said, “Here we are going to actually show the cell tower maps for those calls that we just looked at. So, when we are looking at cell-phone towers, I’ve highlighted several things. We have our homicide scene. We have Billy Ray’s house. We actually have Ms. Wright’s house.”
On July 18, 2010, at 11:47 p.m., Ms. Wright sent an instant message to Billy Ray Turner that said, “I’m going to need my commission.” Sergeant Evans noted that this text was sent 28 minutes before Lorenzen Wright called 911.
At 12:12 a.m. on July 19, “Defendant’s phone was not utilizing that same tower. It changed to a different tower. The tower it’s utilizing is actually in the middle of Windyke Country Club. It’s in the middle of the golf course.”
Lorenzen Wright’s Cell Phone
Next, Sgt. Evans analyzed Lorenzen Wright’s 911 call at 12:12 a.m. on July 19, 2010: “The suspected area of Defendant’s [Billy Ray] cell phone at 12:14 a.m. overlays the same area that the victim’s phone was used at 12:12 . . . they’re in the exact same area, coverage area.”
An analysis of Billy Ray Turner’s home tower and the homicide area tower shows that the home tower was used 23% of the time (518 phone calls) between July 5, 2010 and August 5, 2010. By contrast, the homicide tower was used 3.8% of the time (85 phone calls) between the same dates.
On July 19, 2010, “at 6:00 in the morning or approximately six hours after the 911 call, Defendant [Billy Ray] makes an outgoing call. He doesn’t call Ms. Wright’s phone. He calls what we termed ‘Snoop’s phone,’ or Lorenzen Wright Jr.’s phone” for one minute and twenty-nine seconds.”
When asked to analyze calls that were made after the homicide, Sgt. Evans stated he believed Billy Ray Turner “was calling Ms. Wright on the Snoop phone or the Lorenzen Wright Jr. phone.”
Cell Phones in the Crime Scene Area
Jimmie Martin testified that he did not show up to the actual murder on July 19, 2010, in Tennessee and that Sherra had him come over to the scene after that to help clean up evidence. He claimed he feared for his life during the plot and that both he and Turner agreed that Sherra was “crazy.”
Sergeant Evans analyzed what he called “the cleanup of the crime scene after the homicide,” which mapped the cell towers for Jimmie Martin, Billy Ray Turner, and Sherra Wright.
At 10:20 a.m. on July 21, 2010, “Mr. Martin traveled from Batesville, Mississippi, up Interstate 55 and around to where Ms. Wright lived in Collierville.”
At 12:10 p.m. “Mr. Martin utilized a tower . . . that would have coverage potentially over Ms. Wright’s house.”
Sergeant Evans testified that on that afternoon, Billy Ray Turner and Jimmie Martin were using “two different carriers, two different cell tower locations, but they were both in the same honeycomb kind of coverage area, and they were both receiving calls or making calls at around twelve, 12:10, in the afternoon on the 21st.”
Lieutenant Brian Beasley was part of Operation Rebound. On June 5, 2018, he learned that Earl Smith, Billy Ray Turner’s cousin, had “dragged” Billy Ray’s gray Dodge Stratus from a rural area and loaded it onto a trailer to scrap it. However, a neighbor had persuaded Mr. Smith to call the police about the car. Lieutenant Beasley testified he met Mr. Smith at his house and took Billy Ray’s car to an MPD impound lot. Upon searching the Dodge’s trunk, police recovered red-handled wire cutters, about seventeen shotgun shells, and paperwork, including a bill of sale that showed Billy Ray Turner owned the car. The gray Dodge the lieutenant recovered was consistent with the description of the vehicle provided by Jimmie Martin.
Turning to his other involvement in the investigation, Lt. Beasley testified that wiretaps were placed on Billy Ray Turner’s and Ms. Wright’s phones after the gun was found in the Mississippi lake. After the media publicized the gun’s recovery, Ms. Wright contacted Billy Ray on another person’s phone after she traveled from California to Memphis. They arranged to meet at Janice Taylor’s house. Memphis police observed the meeting between Ms. Wright and Billy Ray Turner, but because there was no audio surveillance, the police did not know what they discussed.
Another MPD testified that on November 12, 2017, he was surveilling Billy Ray Turner and Ms. Wright. This detective knew, based on information obtained from a wiretap, that they were planning to meet at a particular Shelby County location. The detective and other officers surveilling the co-defendants stayed nearby in unmarked police cars. Billy Ray Turner and Sherra Wright met at the arranged meeting place and were seen walking up and down the street and talking for around thirty-five minutes. Photographs the detective took of the two as they spoke were introduced into evidence.
During Billy Ray Turner’s trial, Prosecutors said Lorenzen’s ex-wife, Sherra Wright, masterminded a plan to kill her ex-husband and recruited Billy Ray Turner and her cousin Jimmie Martin to help her.
Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Billy Ray Turner to 25 years in prison for both the conspiracy and the attempted murder charges. Turner was already serving a 16-year sentence for possessing a weapon as a convicted felon. Turner was found with two guns when he was arrested in 2017 in Lorenzen Wright’s killing, and he pleaded guilty in 2019. Court of Appeals—Billy Ray Turner (August 2023)
A third person involved in the plot, Jimmie Martin, testified about the scheme at Turner’s trial. Martin received immunity in return for testimony that helped convict Turner. At the time of Lorenzen Wright’s slaying, Martin was facing charges of killing his girlfriend, and he said his cousin, Sherra Wright, helped pay part of his legal fees. Martin was convicted and is currently serving prison time in that case. He testified that he went with Turner to kill Lorenzen Wright in Atlanta in a failed murder attempt. Martin also testified that he went with Turner to a Mississippi lake to dump the gun used in the killing.
A motive for the slaying was not made clear during the trial, though prosecutors said the killers were driven by jealousy and greed. Sherra Wright received $1 million from her ex-husband’s life insurance policy and settled a court dispute in 2014 over how she spent the insurance money meant to benefit their six children.
The dispatcher had trouble identifying the exact location of the call, and for reasons that are still unclear, the Germantown Police did not investigate or notify any surrounding police departments. Lorenzen Wright had desperately called for help, and no one knew about it.
“You can just listen to that tape and know he was in trouble,” said Toney Armstrong, former director of police at the Memphis Police Department, who oversaw the investigation. “We literally threw everything we had at this investigation. We really wanted to solve it. We really, really wanted to solve this case.”
Then, on July 28—10 days after Lorenzen was last seen—Shelby County authorities were finally told about the 911 call. That day, using more precise cell phone data and aided by cadaver dogs, the search was on. Police found Lorenzen’s skeletal remains near a backwoods road some 20 miles outside of Memphis.
Sherra Wright’s Arrest
Sherra was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Riverside County in California. Sherra was taken into custody during a traffic stop on the 15 Freeway near Hidden Valley Parkway on the Corona-Norco border at about 8 p.m.
Neighbors reported that Wright had lived on a palm-tree-lined block for just a few months. “She would always be on her phone, never seen her drive, never seen her outside her house except for walking every morning up and down the street, pacing, on her cell phone,” Wright’s neighbor said. Two of Sherra and Lorenzen Wright’s children played high school basketball in this California community.
In a May 2017 interview, Sherra said the family had always loved California, even after Lorenzen left Los Angeles.
Two years after Lorenzen Wright’s death, his then 10-year-old twin sons Lamar and Shamar spent a year living with Sherra’s brother, Marcus Robinson, in Wildomar in Riverside County. The twins then spent two years in Memphis, moved to suburban Houston, and then returned to the Inland region, where they played basketball for Murrieta Mesa High School.
On January 25, 2018, Sherra Wright was extradited from California to Shelby County, Tennessee, where she appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit and was arraigned for the murder of her ex-husband. Sherra Wright never gave a statement. Sherra Wright’s bond was set at $20 million.
“Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! They got her! They got her!’’ Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, told a Memphis newspaper.
Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to facilitation of a criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder in a hearing in Shelby County Criminal Court. In an interview with The Commercial Appeal, Sherra said, “she pleaded guilty for the sake of her children.”
Judge Lee Coffee sentenced her to 30 years in prison. Judge Coffee said Sherra Wright would be eligible for parole once she served 30% of her sentence, which is around nine years.
After Sherra Wright entered her plea, the judge allowed Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, to address the court. Marion spoke directly to Sherra Wright, telling her she wanted to see her grandchildren. Marion said she had not been able to visit them.
“I just hate what happened to my child, but he left some nice-looking kids for their grandma,” Deborah Marion said.
Outside the courtroom, Lorenzen’s mother said family members would be attending parole hearings. Marion said she wants Sherra Wright to serve the full 30-year prison sentence. “My son is serving life,” she said.
Lisa Salters of ESPN conducted a phone interview with Sherra Wright. When asked if she killed Lorenzen or played any part in his murder, she said, “Absolutely not.” When asked who killed him, she pointed the finger at Martin.
Trial Begins in Lorenzen Wright’s Murder Case
Tennessee authorities said Sherra Wright got Billy Ray Turner and her cousin Jimmie Martin to help plot, execute, and cover up the murder.
The Trial: Day 1, March 16, 2022—Tennessee v. Billy Ray Turner
Judge Lee Coffee presides. Prosecutor Hagerman reads the indictment. Billy Ray Turner pleads “not guilty” to the indictment. A jury of 12 was sequestered for the duration of the trial.
Prosecutor’s Opening Statement
Opening Statements by Prosecutor Paul Hagerman
“What does it take to kill a man? What does it take to kill a son? What does it take to kill a father of six children? What does it take to kill a brother? What does it take to kill a friend?… What does it take to kill Lorenzen Wright?…”
“Before we answer that, let’s hear what it sounds like to kill a man. Let’s hear what it sounds like to kill Lorenzen Wright.” The 911 call is played.
On the 911 recording are his dying words and the sound of 11 gunshots:
911 CALL: Oh, Goddamn [BANG, BANG].
911 OPERATOR: Germantown 911, where’s your emergency?
911 CALL: [BANG]
911 OPERATOR: Hello?
911 CALL: [BANG, BANG]
911 OPERATOR: Hello?
911 CALL: [BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG]
911 OPERATOR: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: I don’t have nothing but gunshots.
That frantic call was placed shortly after midnight on the morning of July 19—just hours after Lorenzen was dropped off at Sherra’s. The call came into a 911 dispatcher in Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis. But it ended before the caller could give his name and location:
Based on Jimmie Martin’s testimony and other evidence, including phone records, Sherra was allegedly present when Lorenzen was killed. According to Jimmie’s testimony, Sherra said she told Lorenzen she was going to meet someone for money. She lured her ex-husband out. That’s when she and Turner chased Lorenzen, who ran and jumped over the fence like a “deer.” Jimmie said that, according to Sherra, both she and Turner fired their guns.
Interestingly, Sherra Wright was not called as a witness at Billy Ray Turner’s trial. And, she has never given an official statement regarding her involvement in the death of her ex-husband Lorenzen Wright.
Defense Attorney’s Opening Statement
Opening Statements by Defense Attorney John K. Perry
Billy Ray Turner’s Defense Attorney, John Perry, pointed the finger at other potential killers.
“What does it take to kill a pillar of this community?” “What would it take to kill a seven-foot basketball star?”
“The answer to those questions are found in examining motives and evidence that finger Sherra Wright and Martin as Wright’s killers, not Turner.
It was Martin who changed facts frequently when talking to investigators. It was Martin who described Turner as Sherra Wright’s secret love interest.
The kind of person needed to orchestrate Wright’s murder is the same person who is sitting in prison right now for killing their intimate partner — Martin. The same kind of person who would ask Turner to borrow his car and, in turn, set him up.
It takes a punk’s heart that’s sitting in prison right now for taking a firearm and shooting his fiancé, that he lives with, to death.” Defense Attorney Perry: The evidence is gonna show, as clear as can be, that Billy had a well-established life. Billy was living that life… and working… going about life. It shows he was dealing with church folks. It also shows that… let me get it out there…. When Billy was 20, he went to jail. He did his year and a half in jail, and he got out and lived his life straightened. Billy was a man, he dated women, he took care of his responsibilities, he went to church during the week, and you’re going to hear from Claudia he was so slow, her word… because he stayed that green and straight and arrow… Look at the eye contact, look at the body language, look at how the witness tells what they’re going to tell. So, yeah, you’ll see text messages at certain points, but it’ll become clear in particularly if Jimmie testifies like I think he will, not necessarily truthfully, but it’s the fact that we have these recordings that I know he’s going to talk about you gotta get folks hands dirty some. Now, he don’t put himself in the person who’s getting his hands dirty. He puts himself as the person that want to get information that will blackmail Sherra. That’s what you’re gonna hear from him…
Trial Day 1: Detective Jesse Browning, Memphis Police Department
Trial Day 2: Detective Jesse Browning and Cervinia Braswell, TN Bureau of Investigation
Trial Day 2: Sergeant Dennis Evans, Cell Phone Expert
Trial Day 3: Co-Conspirator Jimmie Martin
Trial Day 4—Continued Direct Examination of Co-Conspirator Jimmie Martin
Trial Day 4—Detective Fausto Frias and Brian Beasley, Memphis Police Department
Trial Day 5: Operation Rebound Officer Testifies about Surveillance in Memphis
Trial Day 5: Jennifer Bogan, Friend of Billy Ray Turner, Testifies
Trial Day 6: Prosecutors Closing Argument
Trial Day 6: Defense Attorney’s Closing Argument
Lorenzen Wright’s Childhood Friend, Michael Gipson, Testifies (Court TV, March 21, 2022)
Billy Ray Turner’s sole witness was Jennifer Bogan. Ms. Bogan testified that on July 17, 2010, she had a cookout at her residence. Because she had leftover food, she invited members of her church to her house to eat the next day. Ms. Bogan testified that Billy Ray arrived at her house between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. on July 18, and several persons at her house interacted with him. She also claimed that the defendant stayed into the evening to help her clean up, and she also testified that the defendant was one of the last persons to leave the house. She said Billy Ray left around 10:00 that evening, but she did not know where he went after he left. Ms. Bogan testified she knew Ms. Wright, but she was not at the house on July 18.
Billy Ray Turner said he had expected Sherra Wright to testify on his behalf, but that did not happen. She remained silent.
Had Sherra gone to trial, according to then-Memphis police Major Darren Goods, Jimmie Martin would have testified she admitted to him that she and Turner shot Lorenzen Wright and that she dropped the murder weapon. “That is why they went back to locate the weapon and pick up any shell casings,” Goods said. “There is no direct, absolute evidence that she was one of the shooters other than Jimmie Martin’s statements and the circumstantial facts that placed her there, including her phone records.”
Billy Ray Turner and Sherra Wright were indicted on first-degree murder charges in December 2017, more than 7 years after the killing of Lorenzen Wright. She entered a surprise guilty plea on the lesser charge of facilitation of murder, but Turner claimed he was innocent.
Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Billy Ray Turner to 25 years in prison for both the conspiracy and the attempted murder charges. Turner was already serving a 16-year sentence for possessing a weapon as a convicted felon. Turner was found with two guns when he was arrested in 2017 in Lorenzen Wright’s killing, and he pleaded guilty in 2019.
After deliberations, the jury found Billy Ray Turner guilty as charged on all three counts. The State filed no notice for enhanced punishment on the first-degree murder charge. The trial court imposed a life sentence on the murder charge and twenty-five-year sentences for the Class A felony convictions for attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The trial court ordered the two twenty-five-year sentences to be served concurrently but consecutively to the life sentence. Further, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve his sentence in this case consecutively to a previously imposed sixteen-year sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, for an effective total sentence of life plus forty-one years.
Deborah Marion Reacts to Verdict (March 21, 2022, WREG News Channel)
Billy Ray Turner Found Guilty on All Counts in the 2010 Murder of Lorenzen Wright.
Billy Ray Turner’s Appeal
Court of Appeals—Billy Ray Turner (August 2023)
Lorenzen Wright’s slaying is one of the most highly publicized murder cases in Memphis history. His decomposing body was found riddled with bullet wounds in a swampy field in east Memphis on July 28, 2010. The 34-year-old father of six had been missing for days before his body was discovered.
In Remembrance of Lorenzen Wright
Remembering Lorenzen Wright (Yahoo! News, February 2021)
Three close friends reflect on their relationships with Lorenzen Wright and his positive impact on the Memphis community.
Lorenzen Wright—How Operation Rebound’s 7-Year Cold Case was Finally Solved
Did Billy Ray Turner Conspire with Sherra Wright to Kill Former NBA Player Lorenzen Wright? Was Billy Ray the Killer? What are your thoughts?
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