A house once lived in by Lorenzen Wright, the former Memphis Grizzlies basketball player who was murdered, burned down on March 26.
The house, located at 3715 Classic Drive South, was bought by Wright and his ex-wife, Sherra Wright, in 2001, according to property records. It borders the 16th green on TPC Southwind, where the PGA hosts the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Lorenzen Wright bought the house for about $2.65 million at the time. Records show Wright sold the house in 2005 for $3 million.
According to Shelby County Fire Department Public Information Officer Brent Perkins, crews were dispatched to the house just after 4:30 p.m. on March 26 and arrived about ten minutes later. In total, 10 fire trucks made the scene — eight Shelby County Fire Department trucks and two Memphis Fire Department trucks — and over 50 firefighters battled the blaze.
“After 2.5 hours of fighting fire, we had gone what’s called defensive on the fire, which means that the structure was no longer stable enough and we had to pull everybody out and protect everything around it,” Perkins said. “Interior attacks were no longer available at 2.5 hours into the fire. They called it under control at 7 p.m.”
One firefighter was left with an injured shoulder, but he is in “good condition” after being taken to Methodist Germantown Hospital, Perkins said. Crews remained at the house until about midnight, hitting “hot spots” to prevent the fire from reigniting.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, with Perkins saying “a few things” have been “pinned down,” but the department was not ready to publicly say what the source of the fire was as of midday on March 27. Investigators do believe the fire was burning for some time prior to the 911 call, though, because crews arrived when the fire was “blowing out the windows” and shortly after started coming through the roof, he said.
Who was Lorenzen Wright?
Wright was a star basketball player at the University of Memphis who ultimately ended up playing for the Memphis Grizzlies after making rounds across NBA franchises.
Crews with the Shelby County Fire Department and Memphis Fire Department battle a house fire near TPC Southwind on Thursday, March 26, 2026. The home was once owned by Memphis basketball star Lorenzen Wright.
From The CA Archives: Memphis police no closer to finding star’s killer five years later
But Wright’s story would be linked to Memphis forever after he disappeared in 2010 and investigators found his body near the TPC Southwind golf course. Wright had been shot 11 times, according to an autopsy report.
No arrests were made for years in the case, and it eventually went cold.
In 2017, investigators arrested Billy Ray Turner and Sherra Wright, Lorenzen Wright’s ex-wife. Turner was a church deacon and small business owner who was arrested in Collierville. Sherra Wright had remarried at the time of her arrest and moved to Riverside, California.
Both were charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Defendant Billy Ray Turner (right) and attorney John Keith Perry (left) make an appearance in Judge Lee V. Coffee’s courtroom. Turner and co-defendant Sherra Wright charged with killing her ex-husband NBA star Lorenzen Wright.
According to officials, Lorenzen Wright had left Sherra Wright’s house on July 18, 2010. Investigators determined he had been shot in the early morning hours of July 19 in a secluded, grassy area. He was 34 at the time of his death.
Lorenzen Wright was reported missing by his mother on July 22, 2010, and his body was found near TPC Southwind on July 28 of that year. Despite reward money being available, the case went cold for nearly five years.
Seven years after Lorenzen Wright’s body was found, police said they found a firearm they believed had been used to kill him in a lake in Walnut, Mississippi.
A month later, Turner and Sherra Wright were arrested and charged in connection with the murder.
At a bond hearing in May 2018, prosecutors said a third suspect, who was not indicted, had provided information about the murder. That person was Jimmie Martin, Lorenzen Wright’s cousin, who was in prison on a separate murder conviction.
Crews with the Shelby County Fire Department and Memphis Fire Department battle a house fire near TPC Southwind on Thursday, March 26, 2026. The home was once owned by Memphis basketball star Lorenzen Wright.
According to prosecutors, Martin told them about a failed plot to kill Lorenzen Wright in Atlanta, where to find the firearm used in Lorenzen’s murder, and told investigators how he helped Sherra Wright and Turner clean up the crime scene.
What is happening with Sherra Wright and Billy Ray Turner?
Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to reduced charges in July 2019. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In May 2022, the Tennessee Board of Parole denied her request for parole. Her next parole hearing is set for May 2027, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections website.
Currently 55 years old, Sherra Wright will be 73 if she serves her entire sentence.
Sherra Wright had requested parole just months after a jury found Turner guilty on all three counts in his indictment. The jury deliberated for less than three hours. He was sentenced to life in prison with an additional 25 years added to the sentence.
In November 2022, Lorenzen Wright’s family celebrated what would have been his 47th birthday at his grave in Calvary Cemetery. His mother, Deborah Marion, had spent Lorenzen’s last 12 birthdays at the grave.
But that birthday in 2022 was the first one celebrated after both Sherra Wright and Turner’s court cases had ended.
Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball star Lorenzen Wright’s former home burns down