CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County has set an award of $21,000 for information leading to an arrest in the 2010 murder of Grizzlies player Lorenzen Wright.
What had become a cold case heated up last week with the discovery of the apparent murder weapon in a lake near Walnut, Mississippi, CrimeStoppers said.
The award includes $10,000 from the State of Tennessee, announced by Gov. Bill Haslam’s office, $5,000 from both the City of Memphis and the Memphis Grizzlies, plus the maximum $1,000 that is available in murder cases from CrimeStoppers’ awards coffers.
“We hope that this substantial potential reward will bring in a tip containing information that will help break this case open, lead to an arrest, and bring about justice in this seven-year-old case,” Chapman said.
Wright, who was raised in Oxford, Mississippi, played at all levels of basketball in Memphis — high school, collegiate and professional. He was selected a Third Team All-American by the Associated Press in his sophomore year and the University of Memphis, and he played for three years for the Grizzlies.
Wright left his ex-wife’s home in Collierville on July 18, 2010 and was not see alive or heard from again. His body was found 10 days later in a wooded area on Callis Cutoff Road, just west of Hacks Cross Road.
