Ex-wife sets love trap, claims life of American basketball star.

Ten days after mysteriously disappearing, the body of NBA star Lorenzen Wright was found in the woods with 11 gunshot wounds, shaking the country.

Lorenzen Wright, born in 1975, was once a star in the NBA professional basketball league, playing 13 seasons for five different teams. Besides his basketball talent, Lorenzen was also known and beloved for his active participation in charity activities. After earning around $55 million in his career, Lorenzen retired in 2009.

On July 18, 2010, after spending the whole day with close friend Phil Dotson, Lorenzen mysteriously disappeared while at the home of his ex-wife named Sherra Wright. The couple had divorced just five months prior.

“He said he would call me later. I left around 10 PM, went home, and never heard from him again,” Phil recounted their last meeting with Lorenzen.

Family and friends searched everywhere for Lorenzen but with no results. The state of Tennessee offered a $10,000 reward, the Memphis Grizzlies team and the city government of Memphis each offered a $5,000 reward for any information about the whereabouts of the former star.

Eight days after his disappearance, Memphis police discovered a 911 call in Germantown, a suburb of Memphis, and linked it to Lorenzen.

“Oh, my God,” Lorenzen said in the recorded call before gunshots rang out. According to police, the call captured the former star’s final moments as he fled in the dark forest before being shot down, sending shivers down listeners’ spines as they sensed Lorenzen’s horror.

However, on the night of the shooting, dispatchers couldn’t pinpoint the location, understand what he was saying, and didn’t pursue the matter further.

Memphis police traced the call using mobile phone tower data. Ten days after Lorenzen went missing, his body was found in a wooded area, shot 11 times. Police deemed it a homicide.

At the time of his disappearance, Lorenzen was living in Atlanta but flew to Tennessee that weekend to spend time with family and at his ex-wife’s home. Sherra told police that Lorenzen left her house around 3 a.m. on July 19 and never returned.

Lorenzen and Sherra had a long-standing but tumultuous relationship. They first met when Lorenzen was in high school, and Sherra’s father was his basketball coach. Despite Sherra being over five years older, the couple quickly developed feelings for each other. When Lorenzen started playing in the NBA, they had their first child together.

The couple married in 1998 but lived amidst arguments, jealousy, and constant accusations of infidelity. The marriage became more strained after they lost their daughter to sudden infant death syndrome in 2003.

During a heated argument when Lorenzen was allegedly caught by Sherra with another man, media reported that he kicked down a door, pointed a gun at them, and assaulted Sherra, leaving her with a deep cut on her arm and multiple scratches on her face. No charges were filed, and Lorenzen publicly denied harming his wife.

In 2010, the couple divorced but remained connected in life. According to the divorce agreement, Lorenzen purchased a $1 million life insurance policy, with six children as beneficiaries, and Sherra acted as the custodian of the funds.

From the outset of the investigation, both police and Lorenzen’s family suspected Sherra’s involvement in her ex-husband’s death. According to Lorenzen’s mother, his ex-daughter-in-law had a habit of extravagant spending and was the sole beneficiary of his death.

Before police, Sherra last saw her ex-husband when he left her home with a box of drugs to sell for quick cash. Sherra claimed Lorenzen was murdered in a failed drug deal. However, investigators found no evidence supporting this theory.

The investigation stalled until an unexpected breakthrough in 2012. Sherra’s cousin, Jimmie Martin, was convicted of killing his girlfriend and hoped for a lighter sentence. He told police that Sherra hired him to kill her ex-husband along with landscaper Billy Ray Turner. The three of them conspired to stage the murder.

Jimmie revealed that he and Billy once brought guns to Lorenzen’s apartment in Atlanta, but after breaking in, they didn’t find Lorenzen but only a roommate of the former athlete sleeping on the couch, prompting them to hastily leave. Sherra decided to lure Lorenzen to Memphis by sending her ex-husband a series of suggestive text messages.

Sherra and Billy then told Jimmie that they had successfully carried out the murder. According to their account, Sherra enticed Lorenzen to a forest area where Billy was waiting. Upon arrival, Billy immediately opened fire as Lorenzen approached. The former athlete attempted to flee, jumping over a fence before being hit by multiple gunshots.

Jimmie confessed that he and Billy disposed of the murder weapon in a small Mississippi lake.

Jimmie was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his girlfriend’s murder but was granted immunity in Lorenzen’s case for testifying against Sherra and Billy.

However, despite Jimmie’s confession, investigators still lacked sufficient evidence to arrest the suspects. They dredged the weapon under the lake but found nothing. In 2016, an FBI dive team organized a new search and discovered the murder weapon, over 80 km from where Lorenzen’s body was found.

Billy and Sherra were arrested in December 2017.

Lorenzen’s mother set off fireworks at the cemetery upon receiving news of the arrests. “We have to celebrate,” she said.

Sherra’s attorney argued that she orchestrated the attack on her ex-husband because she was trapped in an abusive relationship.

Based on Jimmie’s testimony and other evidence, including phone records, Sherra was believed to be present during Lorenzen’s murder. The forest where Lorenzen’s body was found was once the couple’s intimate dating spot. For Lorenzen, the location was not unusual and wouldn’t raise suspicion. Numerous sexually suggestive text messages between the two confirmed that Sherra lured her ex-husband back there.

In July 2019, Sherra pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal, sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and facilitation of a murder.

During Billy’s trial, prosecutors revealed that Billy and Sherra had an extramarital affair. Billy worked as a landscaper in Atlanta and met Sherra at church. Prosecutors said Sherra could easily manipulate Billy. They presented evidence from mobile phone records showing hundreds of calls between Billy and Sherra before and after Lorenzen’s death, along with Billy’s mobile phone data on the night of the murder.

In March 2022, Billy, 51, was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and accessory after the fact, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Although the motive was not clarified in court, Lorenzen’s mother asserted that Sherra killed her ex-husband to collect money from the $1 million life insurance policy. She is believed to have quickly received the money after Lorenzen’s death.

During Sherra’s parole hearing in May 2022, two out of six children stood up to support their mother, while one opposed early release. Sherra’s next parole hearing is scheduled for 2027.