Suspect Charged in Death of Ex-NBA Player Lorenzen Wright

46-year-old Billy Turner has been charged in Wright's 2010 murder.

Booking photo of murder suspect Billy Turner.
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Image via @Fox13Memphis

Booking photo of murder suspect Billy Turner.

On Tuesday, authorities made an arrest in the more than 7-year-old murder case of ex-NBA player Lorenzen Wright, whose bullet-riddled body was found in suburban Memphis back on June 28, 2010, 10 days after he was first reported missing.

46-year-old suspect Billy Turner was apprehended at a gas station and charged with first-degree murder. He is currently being held on $1,000,000 bond:

Police re-opened the case in November after they purportedly found a gun that was used to shoot Lorenzen in a lake in the small town of Walnut, Mississippi, roughly 75 miles east of Memphis.

Recently, Wright's mother had told news outlets she had not given up hope when it came to the subject of finding her son's killer. After the arrest was made she told Memphis's WREG-TV "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. You gotta pray for what you want and that's what I did."

Wright was last seen alive on July 18, 2010 as he left his ex-wife's house. Later she told authorities that she saw him leave with drugs and money. She also says that she overheard him saying on the phone that he was going to "flip something for $110,000," and that she watched him get into a car with someone she was unable to identify.

According to ESPN, a police dispatcher in the Memphis suburb Germantown received a call from Lorenzen's cell phone on July 19. That person reportedly heard gunshots before the call was dropped. That info was not given to the Memphis PD until several days later and authorities also failed to make a timely connection to the missing person report. Wright's body was eventually found in badly decomposed state, with bullet fragments in his chest, head, and one of his forearms.

During far better days, Wright was a 6-foot-11 second-team All-American center who was drafted out of the University of Memphis with the 7th overall pick by the Clippers back in 1996. He played 13 seasons for five different NBA teams, including the: Clippers, Hawks, Grizzlies, Kings and Cavs. He retired in 2009 with a career average of 8.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

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