Crime & Safety
Lorenzen Wright Murder Trial: Alleged Gunman Pleads Not Guilty
Wright's decomposing body was found in a swampy field outside Memphis in July 2010, 10 days after the 34-year-old was reported missing.
MEMPHIS, TN — The man accused of shooting former Memphis Grizzlies player Lorenzen Wright to death pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder on Tuesday. Attorney John Keith Perry entered the plea on behalf of Billy Turner, 46, in Memphis.
Turner was indicted last week and his bail was set at $1 million.
Wright's decomposing body was found in a swampy field outside Memphis in July 2010, 10 days after the 34-year-old was reported missing. He was shot multiple times. Wright's death has been one of the Memphis Police Department's most high-profile unsolved cases.
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Prosecutors and police have declined to provide details about the investigation. Perry said there should not be a "rush to judgment" regarding Turner, a landscaper and resident of Collierville.
Police think they found the weapon that killed Wright in a lake across the Tennessee border in Walnut, Mississippi, Memphis Police Department spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said last month.
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Wright played for four other NBA teams as a forward and center over 13 seasons. He retired in 2009.
Photo credit: Mark Duncan/Associated Press