Sherra Wright and Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, stood a few feet apart in Criminal Court on Thursday and children is what kept the scenario from turning into a crime scene.
Wright pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to charges associated with the killing of her ex-husband and Marion’s son almost 9 years ago. She is eligible for parole in about eight years.
Several minutes after she had addressed the media, Marion and family comforted each other in a parking lot across the street from the Criminal Justice Complex. Walking across the street, she told The New Tri-State Defender that she focused on her grandchildren when Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee gave her the chance to address the court.
If not, she said, she would have been going to jail.
The facts in the case show that Lorenzen Wright, a former NBA stalwart, University of Memphis star and hometown hero, left Sherra Wright’s house in Collierville on July 18. He was shot early the next morning, police have reported.
The couple had six children.
Still too come is the trial of co-defendant, Billy Ray Turner. Prosecutor Paul Hagerman would not comment on whether she would testify against him.
Defense attorneys said afterwards that Sherra Wright was the victim of physical abuse, specifically repeated beatings by Lorenzen Wright, and that she had hired Billy in response.
Wright’s sentence effectively was 30 years, with 30 percent release eligibility. In response to Wright’s direct question, Judge Coffee told her she would get credit for the time she has been jailed.
