Sherra Wright: Guilty Plea, 30-Year Sentence, and Parole Denial

Sherra Wright is the ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, and in July 2019 she pleaded guilty to facilitating his 2010 murder in Memphis. She is serving a 30-year sentence in Tennessee, was denied parole in May 2022, and is not eligible to appear before the parole board again until May 2027.¹

Who She Is

Sherra Robinson met Lorenzen Wright when he was playing AAU basketball for a team coached by her father.² They married in 1998 and had seven children together. One daughter, Sierra Simone Wright, died of sudden infant death syndrome in 2003. The couple divorced in early 2010, with Sherra remaining in Memphis and Lorenzen living in Atlanta. Six months after the divorce, Lorenzen was dead.

What She Did

Prosecutors alleged that between April and July 2010, Sherra Wright conspired with Billy Ray Turner, a friend from her Collierville-area church, and her cousin Jimmie Martin to kill her ex-husband.³ The group met to plan the killing, acquired firearms, and even traveled to Lorenzen’s home outside Atlanta in a failed earlier attempt on his life.

According to Martin’s later testimony, Sherra spent weeks sending sexually explicit messages to Lorenzen to draw him back to Memphis.² On July 18, 2010, Lorenzen visited her home. Martin testified that Sherra then lured him to a rural area of southeastern Memphis under the pretext of a money exchange, where he was shot multiple times. Martin said Sherra told him afterward that she and Turner had pulled the trigger. Just after midnight on July 19, a 911 call from Lorenzen’s cell phone captured the sound of gunshots before the line went dead.⁴ His body was not found until July 28.

In the days after the killing, Martin testified, he helped cover up the crime scene using his mother’s metal detector, and he and Turner drove the murder weapon to a lake near Walnut, Mississippi, where Turner disposed of it.⁵

Why She Wasn’t Arrested for Seven Years

The case sat cold from 2010 until late 2017. Sherra had told investigators that Lorenzen left her home the night of the killing carrying money and drugs, and that she had overheard him arranging to “flip something for $110,000.”² Friends and family rejected that account, noting that Lorenzen still had his jewelry and a large sum of cash on him when his body was found, which ruled out robbery.

The break came from Jimmie Martin. Already serving a 20-year sentence for the 2007 murder of his girlfriend, Martin began cooperating with investigators and told them where the gun had been dumped.⁶ Authorities recovered the weapon from the Mississippi lake in November 2017. The following month, Sherra Wright and Billy Ray Turner were indicted on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and attempted first-degree murder.⁷ Federal marshals arrested Sherra at her home in Riverside County, California, on December 15, 2017, and she was extradited to Memphis.⁸

The Guilty Plea and 30-Year Sentence

Rather than go to trial, Sherra Wright pleaded guilty in July 2019 to facilitation of first-degree murder and facilitation of attempted first-degree murder.⁹ The judge sentenced her to 30 years in prison, with an eight-year sentence on the attempted murder facilitation charge running concurrently.¹⁰ Under Tennessee law, she became eligible for parole consideration after serving 30 percent of the sentence, roughly nine years, with credit for time already served.

Her Effort to Withdraw the Plea

In June 2021, Sherra filed a petition to vacate the guilty plea, arguing that her confession had been coerced and that she had received ineffective counsel.¹¹ In an ESPN E60 interview that same month, she denied any role in the murder and pointed instead to her cousin Martin. She also alleged that Lorenzen had been abusive during their marriage; the interview noted he was never arrested or charged with domestic violence.¹² The plea has not been withdrawn.

Parole Denied Until 2027

Sherra Wright appeared before the Tennessee Board of Parole on May 11, 2022. Three of the seven board members voted to deny her release, citing the seriousness of her offense.¹³ The board ruled she could not come back before it for five years, setting her next parole hearing for May 2027.¹

The Money Motive

Money threaded through the case. After Lorenzen retired from the NBA, both he and Sherra ran into financial trouble, including cars being repossessed, which the Wright family attributed to Sherra’s spending.² After his death, Sherra collected more than $1 million in life insurance proceeds that had been court-ordered to support the couple’s six surviving children. Court documents showed she spent $970,000 of it within ten months, including more than $180,000 on construction and remodeling across four properties and over $55,000 on furniture.¹⁴ Lorenzen’s father, Herb Wright, went to court to challenge her handling of the funds.

The Novel She Published Before Her Arrest

In 2015, five years after the murder and two years before her arrest, Sherra Wright self-published a 230-page urban fiction novel called Mr. Tell Me Anything. The parallels to her real life were striking. The protagonist is a 5-foot-10 Memphis woman named “Sharon Roberson” with six children. The love interest is a 6-foot-11 NBA player from Mississippi who plays in the same cities as Lorenzen. The couple meets through a summer basketball team coached by the woman’s father.¹⁵ The plot touches on domestic violence, infidelity, financial struggles, and a prenuptial agreement signed two days before a wedding. In the introduction, Sherra wrote that she hoped the story, “though fictional, will help someone else who does not have the strength to carry on.” The book ends on a cliffhanger; the promised sequel was never written.

What Happened to the Two Other Men

Billy Ray Turner went to trial in March 2022 and was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy, and attempted first-degree murder. In July 2022 he was sentenced to life plus 25 years, with an additional 16 years from a 2019 guilty plea for being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon, bringing his total to life plus 41 years.⁷ His direct appeal was denied in October 2023, and the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to hear the case. He has since pursued post-conviction relief on ineffective-assistance grounds, with hearings continuing into 2025.¹⁶

Jimmie Martin was never charged in Lorenzen Wright’s murder. He received immunity in exchange for his cooperation and testimony.¹⁷ He is still serving his 20-year sentence for the earlier killing of his girlfriend. Turner’s defense attorney attacked Martin’s credibility at trial, calling him a convicted murderer with a motive to lie and suggesting Martin himself may have been the shooter.⁶

1
Commercial Appeal. Sherra Wright Denied Parole
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Oxygen. Why Sherra Wright Killed NBA Player Lorenzen Wright
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Commercial Appeal. Sherra Wright Arrested in California
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WREG. 911 Call May Reveal the Last Moments of Lorenzen Wright’s Life
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Fox 13 Memphis. Jimmy Martin, the Man Who Can Convict Sherra Wright
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Commercial Appeal. Jimmie Martin, Sherra Wright, Lorenzen Wright Conspirator
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Shelby County District Attorney General. Turner Sentenced to Life Plus 25 Years in Lorenzen Wright Murder and Conspiracy
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Fox 13 Memphis. Sherra Wright Pleads Guilty, Sentenced 30 Years
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Action News 5. Sherra Wright Makes Unexpected Appearance in Court
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Daily Memphian. Sherra Wright Accepts 30-Year Sentence for Lorenzen Wright Murder
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Yahoo Sports. Lorenzen Wright’s Ex-Wife Asking Judge for Her Guilty Plea to Be Rescinded
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Commercial Appeal. Sherra Wright Murder, Lorenzen Wright ESPN E60
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Los Angeles Times. Lorenzen Wright Killing: Wife Denied Parole
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Action News 5. Ex-Wife of Lorenzen Wright in Spending Controversy
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Action News 5. Decoding Sherra Wright’s Book
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Action News 5. Billy Ray Turner’s Efforts to Overturn Sentencing Will Move Into 2025
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ESPN. Billy Ray Turner Sentenced in Slaying of Former NBA Player Lorenzen Wright