Oxygen's Snapped: How did NBA star Lorenzen Wright die?

Oxygen's Snapped has long covered important true-crime cases, such as Lorenzen Wright's 2010 murder.

This week's episode, which aired on October 30, 2022, covered the events that led to the former NBA star's death, which shook the basketball world. Lorenzen Wright was shot to death in a wooded area in Memphis, Tennessee while visiting his ex-wife and their children.

Despite being high-profile, the case was hardly easy to solve. It took police a long time, approximately a decade, before they found the perpetrator, who turned out to be Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife, Sherra Wright-Robinson.

She and her accomplice, Billy Ray Turner, whom she supposedly met at her church, were finally arrested in 2017, bringing an end to the long saga.

Read on for more details about the murder of Lorenzen Wright and her ex-wife's involvement in the whole thing.

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More details about former NBA star Lorenzen Wright and his murder

An NBA star in his peak years, Lorenzen was one of the most popular basketball players in the world. He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, following it up with many club switches over his long and illustrious career.

Lorenzen Wright and his then-wife, Sherra Wright-Robinson, were married for a long time. The duo shared seven children amongst them. However, over the years, their relationship started to crumble due to various issues, leading to their divorce being finalized shortly before Lorenzen's death. The couple kept in constant touch with each other because of their children and family-related matters.

After Lorenzen suddenly disappeared, Sherra filed a missing report about four days later. According to sources, Sherra claimed that he left her home in Collierville, Tennessee, on the night of July 18, with drugs and an unspecified amount of money. With some assistance from locals and other witnesses, authorities alleged that Lorenzen was killed on July 19, 2010.

Lorenzen's body was soon discovered and Sherra was brought in for questioning. However, nothing tied the woman to her husband's sudden death, with the authorities later looking at alternative options.

She came to the spotlight years later again when authorities discovered that she had instantly spent $1 million compensation which she received from Lorenzen’s insurance policy, which was reportedly left for their seven children.

It would be another three years before a firearm was discovered in a Mississippi lake, tying Sherra to the crime. Police first reached Billy Ray Turner, which led them to Wright's ex-wife.

Both accused were arrested for murder. Sherra later revealed that she killed her ex-husband out of greed and personal benefits. She had initially planned to hire hitmen to kill Lorenzen, but when the plan failed, she decided to mastermind the murder with the help of Ray Turner. After a near-perfect crime, they dumped the murder weapon in the lake, which eventually led to their downfall.

Sherra later agreed to a plea deal in 2019, pleading guilty to facilitation to commit first-degree murder and facilitation to commit attempted first-degree murder. She is currently in prison.

Oxygen's Snapped airs every Sunday. Stay tuned for more updates.