MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “It was like walking into the sea without water. You know danger is near. You can’t see, but you know danger is near,” said Deborah Marion as she describes the atmosphere when her ex-daughter in law, Sherra Wright, entered court Thursday morning to face charges for killing her ex-husband and Marion’s son, basketball star Lorenzen Wright.
“I couldn’t believe I was sitting in the same room with the person that facilitated the murder of my child. I just couldn’t fathom. They did everything they could to keep me steady,” said Marion. “She walked in the courtroom like she didn’t have any concerns in the world. She had a smirk grin on her face. She walked in like, ‘oh well.”
Marion has long been suspicious of Sherra Wright’s involvement in Lorenzen’s death in 2010.
For seven years she has waited for answers.
In the last two months things started unfolding – with the finding of the murder weapon, the arrest of suspect Billy Turner and now the arrest and pending trial of Sherra Wright.
Related: Full coverage Lorenzen Wright’s case
“I know this trial is not going to be a speedy trial, but I am ready for it to come on now,” she said.
Marion says she is not swayed by the fact that Sherra could be represented by the firms of high-profile attorneys Steve Farese and Leslie Ballin, known for their success in court.
“They might be successful, but how are you going to pre-meditate a murder and get her out of it? And you tried to kill him more than once,” said Marion.
As for the person charged with helping in the murder, Billy Turner, Marion has no sympathy for him – saying he had a chance to stop the crime.
“He had time enough to think and say ‘I don’t want to be a part of this.’ He could have thrown his hand up and went to police and say ‘Look, this lady is trying to hire me to kill Lorenzen Wright, and I don’t want to be a part of it,” she said.
“He could have said that, and my son would have still been here.”
She plans to be in court every step of the way as the trials go forward.
But her attention is also on something else, her grandchildren, Lorenzen’s kids.
Four of them are under the age of 18.
She plans to file suit to get custody.
“I don’t want her to get the death penalty. I want her to miss her kids like I miss mine,” said Marion.
Another legal battle Deborah Marion is fighting is a wrongful death lawsuit she says she will file against Billy Turner and Sherra Wright.
She wants them to have to pay for Lorenzen’s murder.
Billy Turner will be back in court Monday. Sherra Wright’s next court date is February 26, 2018