ADMITTING IT

Ex-Wife of Slain NBA Player Lorenzen Wright Pleads Guilty to Planning His Murder

Sherra Wright could spend up to 30 years behind bars.

The former wife of ex-NBA player Lorenzen Wright on Thursday admitted to planning his 2010 murder, NBC News reports. Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder in Memphis court, and could spend up to 30 years in prison. In exchange for her guilty plea, her first-degree murder charge was dropped, and she will be eligible for parole in eight years. Her husband—who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Los Angeles Clippers during his 13 seasons in the NBA—went missing in July 2010. His bullet-riddled body was found in the woods outside Memphis 10 days later. The case was cold for seven years until Billy Turner, a deacon at the Wrights’ church, and Sherra Wright were arrested. At the time, they both pleaded not guilty to murder charges. 

Lorenzen Wright’s mother spoke to Sherra in court Thursday, thanking her for raising her six grandchildren. “I just hate what happened to my child. But he has some nice looking kids for his grandma,” Deborah Marion said, adding that she was looking forward to having the grandchildren move in with her. “They want to see me, I want to see them,” she said.