Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline: Unforgettable‘s upcoming episode, titled “The Murder of Lorenzen Wright,” will air on Oxygen on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. The episode will look into the case of Lorenzen Wright, an NBA player who played 13 seasons in the league. However, he was reported missing by his mother on July 22, 2010. CNN reported that he was last seen before midnight on July 18, when he visited his children at his ex-wife’s home in Collierville, near Memphis. Wright is believed to have been killed on July 19, before his body was found in a wooded area in southeast Memphis on July 28, 2010.
After the murder case went cold for seven years, Wright’s ex-wife, Sherra Robinson Wright, and a Tennessee man called Billy Ray Turner were arrested by the police in December 2017. As per The Guardian, Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to the facilitation of Lorenzen Wright’s murder in July 2019. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 2022, a jury found Billy Turner Ray guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy in the death of Wright.
The outlet also reported that Sherra’s cousin, Jimmie Martin, was charged with the killing of his girlfriend when Wright was murdered. Sherra Wright was reportedly paying his legal fees at the time. Martin testified that Sherra planned Lorenzen Wright’s murder. She asked Martin and Turner to shoot him in his condo in Atlanta.
However, when Martin and Turner showed up at his residence, they saw someone else inside. They returned without following through with the plan. He claimed that Sherra confessed to orchestrating Lorenzen Wright’s shooting a few days after the murder when he and Sherra went to the Memphis field.
What did Lorenzen Wright’s autopsy reveal?
The autopsy reports revealed that Lorenzen Wright was shot five times. Examiners noticed two shots to the skull, two around his heart, and one shot to his forearm. Notable head trauma included four skull fractures and a cavity in the center of his face. His nasal and frontal bones were also missing. Two lower front teeth were also missing. The skull injuries were apparently from the gunshots, Action News 5 reported.
A fracture to the right shoulder and multiple rib fractures were also reported. The body was majorly decomposed by the time the cadaver dogs led authorities to it. Lorenzen Wright, who weighed 255 pounds, only weighed 57 pounds when he was found. His skin was getting mummified, and the remains were mostly only skeletal. The condition in which the body was found made identification difficult, but it was eventually made possible via dental records.
Toxicology tests reportedly revealed that there were no drugs present in Lorenzen Wright’s system at the time of death. Although some level of ethanol alcohol was traced in the body, the chemical is reportedly present during decomposition. No cell phone or wallet was found in his possession. A dog tag necklace and a white metal watch were collected. Wright was 34 at the time of his death.
The Dateline: Unforgettable episode, “The Murder of Lorenzen Wright” will be aired on Oxygen on March 21, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. The episode will delve into the disappearance and subsequent murder of NBA player, Lorenzen Wright.
