Memphis officials have charged Sherra Wright-Robinson, ex-wife of former NBA star Lorenzen Wright with his 2010 murder.
Wright-Robinson was arrested in Riverside County, California Friday night on a fugitive from justice warrant. She is charged with first degree murder and conspiracy.
The arrest is the second this month in what had been a cold case since Wright’s bullet-riddled, decomposing body was found in a Memphis suburb July 27, 2010.
A grand jury indicted Billy R. Turner, a Shelby County, Tennessee resident on first degree murder charges. Turner, who has pleaded not guilty, was arrested earlier this month and is being held on $1 million bond. Memphis Police Director Michael Rollins would not discuss what the connection was between Wright-Robinson and Turner.
The discovery last month in a Mississippi lake 75 miles east of Memphis in Walnut, Mississippi of the gun that killed Wright appears to have been the development that led to the arrests.
Police heard Wright’s murder being committed on July 19, 2010, but had no idea at the time what they had just heard.
An unknown witness made a 911 call to report about the incident and while the caller was on the phone, shots rang out. Police were unable to get an address from the caller and Wright’s body was not discovered for eight days.
By the time the body was discovered, according to a lawsuit filed by Wright’s family, “exposure to the elements, including substantial rain, extreme heat, indigenous animals and insects had reduced the remains from roughly 215 pounds to 57 pounds.”
In the lawsuit, the family claimed the location of the call could have been traced much sooner, but the Germantown, Tennessee Police Department’s internet connection had been disabled because officers were using it for purposes that were not work-related.
Wright played 13 years in the NBA, including five years for the Memphis Grizzlies. He also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks and ended his playing career with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2008-2009 season.
The arrests marked a milestone in the seven-year quest of Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, to bring her son’s killers to justice, but it is not over yet , she told Fox 13 in Memphis.
Fox 13 reporter Mearl Purvis tweeted earlier Friday before the arrest of Wright-Robinson that Turner might not be the last one arrested in connection with Wright’s murder.
“I’m told the investigation into the murder of Lorenzen Wright is far from over. Billy Turner is already charged with the murder of Wright. And there could be several others.”
