The woman convicted in the murder of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright was denied parole on Wednesday (May 11) after a vote by the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
The Parole board denied granting the release of Sherra Wright, the 13-season NBA veteran's ex-wife, who was found guilty of organizing the athlete's July 2010 murder and has served less than four years of her 30-year sentence.
According to reports, Sherra Wright took a plea deal in 2019, which led to the 30-year sentence with the eligibility of parole after serving a third, or about nine years. With pre-trial time-served credit, Sherra still did not reach that mark.
Lorenzen Wright was found fatally shot near a field in Memphis in July 2010. A 12-person jury found Billy Ray Turner guilty of killing the athlete in a scheme prosecutors argued was orchestrated by his ex-wife and her cousin Jimmie Martin.
Martin testified that he, Turner, and Sherra Wright met to discuss a plan to murder Lorenzen. In his testimony, Martin said Sherra confessed after he went to the field where she and Turner had "ambushed" Lorenzen, fatally shooting him. She received a $1 million payout from the athlete's life insurance policy at the time of his death.
Turner was sentenced to life in prison for the murder and had previously served a 16-year prison sentence for possession of a firearm.
In his professional basketball career, Lorenzen Wright played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
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