MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 16-year-old girl once charged in the high-profile murder of the CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber is now accused of another violent crime.
Ricanisha Wright is now 20 years old and is behind bars for attempted first-degree murder.
Police say in September 2018, she and two young men were riding around downtown looking for someone to rob when they spotted Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Phil Trenary. They ended up shooting him.
All three were later arrested for first-degree murder, and according to court documents we uncovered, Wright “identified” the two men she was with and herself as the “individuals responsible for the attempted robbery.”
Three months later, she walked free. Juvenile Court staff said they weren’t at liberty to discuss what happened. They told us to contact family.
So we did. We went to the address listed on court records. A woman answered the door, and told us she is Wright’s mother.
She says after a closed-door meeting in December 2018, her daughter was allowed to go home, but had to wear an ankle monitor for six months. Since then, she told us Wright has been doing well until May of this year.
Police linked Wright to this shooting in South Memphis that happened in May.
Court documents state Wright got into a fight with a guy “over money.” It turned “physical.” The next day, she and “her brother” were seen walking down the street by a woman, who didn’t want to be identified.
“He had a long-sleeve hoodie in the middle of the summertime. It was 100-and-something-degree heat. He was walking towards us, and I asked, ‘What are you fixing on doing? Trying to rob us?'” said the woman.
Moments later, investigators say Wright started “vigorously flagging” down the guy she got into a fight with the day before. He “was driving his 2003 green Honda Accord on South Cooper Street.”
He slowed down, Wright’s brother “pulled a handgun from his waistband” and shot the guy in the back.
“We thought he was shooting at us. We jumped down behind our truck because we had said something to him,” said the witness.
A few weeks later, Wright was taken into custody and charged with attempted first-degree murder.
She is behind bars on a $100,000 bond. Her mom said she was eight months pregnant at the time of her arrest and just had the baby while behind bars. She said the baby is with family.
She also told WREG Wright’s brother, who is 15, was also arrested just days after he was injured in a separate shooting.
As for the Trenary case, the Chamber said Tuesday, “Out of respect for the family and the judicial process, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the case at this time.”
The case set to go to trial at the end of the year.
