Sherra Wright Robinson‘s former husband, Lorenzen Wright was a well-known and loved NBA player, who played for such esteemed teams as the LA Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, and Memphis Grizzlies. When he mysteriously vanished in 2010, friends and family were understandably worried, yet no one could have predicted how worried they should have been.
Lorenzen and Sherra Wright appeared to be a match made in basketball heaven. They met in high school when Lorenzen participated in the highly acclaimed Amateur Athletic Union, coached by Sherra’s father. The two became inseparable and would go on to get married and have seven children together. Yet their love affair would end in tragedy, with Lorenzen murdered, and Sherra as the prime suspect.
Who is Sherra Wright Robinson?
Sherra Wright Robinson is a Tennessee native, the daughter of basketball coach Julius Robinson. Robinson trained Lorenzen and introduced the 16 year old to his daughter who was then 21. The young 6’11 basketball star’s talent was quickly recognized. By 1994 he was playing for the University of Memphis and Sherra was pregnant with his child. In 1998 the two tied the knot, Sherra became pregnant with their second child, and Lorenzen was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.
Fast forward to 2002, and the pair had seven children together and had been married for four years. While the couple’s relationship might have begun like a fairy tale, it quickly devolved into a nightmare. They lost one of their children due to SIDS in 2003, and the loss seemed to further the pressure on the already strained relationship. By 2009 Lorenzen was finishing his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his marriage was over. In 2010, the pair began divorce proceedings and things went from bad to worse.
Lorenzen Wright’s disappearance
By 2010 Lorenzen and Sherra Wright’s marriage was over, yet it seemed their relationship might not have been. Lorenzen’s friend Michael Gipson shared in an interview with Oxygen’s Snapped that Lorenzen had been receiving racy messages from Sherra, including on the night he disappeared.
The night of July 18th 2010, 34 year old Lorenzen and a friend were at his son’s basketball game, and that is when Gipson shared, the messages began coming in. Following the game, Lorenzen and his son were dropped off at Sherra’s house at around 10pm. That was the last time Lorenzen would ever be seen alive.
After being reported missing by his mother several days later, Lorenzen’s phone records were obtained and his last call was revealed. He had dialed 911 from a location in Germantown, Tenessee on July 19th, but no follow up on the call had been conducted. When police searched the area they found Lorenzen’s decomposed body on July 28th.
During the investigation it was revealed that the Wrights were having serious financial problems following Lorenzen’s retirement. He had retired at age 34, which is similar to others in the NBA such as Kobe Bryant who also played on the Lakers. The two had both also had extramarital affairs, and their on and off again relationship was tumultuous at best. Within a year of Lorenzen’s death, Sherra spent almost $1 million of his life insurance money. When Sherra’s cell phone records were subpoenaed, even more shocking revelations would follow.
Sherra Wright’s crime
When investigators got a hold of Sherra’s phone records, her insidious plan was finally revealed. She had been sending Lorenzen sexually explicit messages for weeks, encouraging him to come visit her in Tennessee. At the same time, she was messaging her cousin Jimmie Martin who was out on bail for the second degree murder of his former girlfriend. Sherra also was messaging with a man named Billy Ray Turner, whom she had met through her church. While the messages were suspicious, the case stalled until 2013.
Following a 20 year prison sentence and conviction for the murder of his former girlfriend, Martin entered an agreement to flip on Sherra in exchange for a lesser sentence. Martin claimed Sherra and Turner had planned and committed the murder then called him to help get rid of the evidence. In 2017 Sherra was arrested, and then in 2019, at age 48, she pleaded guilty to “facilitation to commit murder” and “facilitation to commit attempted first-degree murder.” She was sentenced to 30 years in prison, as reported by the Memphis CBS-affiliate WREG. Billy Ray Turner was also found guilty and was sentenced to life.
Wright’s request for parole was denied in 2022, she will be eligable again in 2027. She remains in the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville. It’s a sad ending to the story of a basketball star, and a young love that had started off with so much promise.